Stay (Run Sequel)
by PercyFosterMellark
Summary: I, Brandon Foster have everything I could've ever asked for. Callie Jacobs, and two kids. My mothers have finally accepted the fact of us being together, I have a feeling that it won't last very long when they find out that we're having a real child, or the other secrets. Everything good that had happen starts to fall apart.
1. Chapter 1

Brandon POV

It's Ellie's birthday, and like always, Stef and Lena demanded that we spend the day together, which only made her ten times happier, and for Ethan, he's an mini Jesus, playing video games with Jude and Jesus. Soon after Callie told me she was pregnant, I learned that Mariana and Emma knew. Why Emma was there, I didn't know, Marina is understand able. Stef and Lena are in the living room with everybody else, showering Ellie with presents like learning books and new clothes. There was even talk about getting a dog, seeing that it was on of the only thing she's been talking about right now. We settled on getting one next year.

"Brandon, go tell everybody that Ellie cake is ready." Callie tells me as she starts to pull it out of the fridge, and I smile, going to the living room, and Ellie sees me.

"Daddy!" She shouts, all of her attention coming straight to me as she holds on to my leg, almost tripping over her new shoes.

"Hey, baby girl!" I say, picking her up, and throwing her over my shoulder. "Are you ready for your birthday cake?"

"Yeah!" She squeals, trying to worm her way from my grip, and I know she waited all day for me or Callie to ask her. I manage to have her back on her feet as she runs into the kitchen, and everybody laughs when they hear her yelling at Callie happily.

"You made a good choice, B," Stef tells me, patting my back. "This is perfect, really. I'm happy for you. Just enjoy it while it lasts, they grow up so fast."

I nod, and I almost tell her about Callie being pregnant, but I decide against it, knowing that it probably cause everybody to go crazy. But I can see Mariana being the one telling everybody, judging by how she's constantly smiling at me or Callie, and it's actually starting to get creepy.

Mariana was about to follow everybody else when I stop her. "Hey, Mariana. You haven't told anybody else yet, right?"

"No, why?"

"If you keep smiling like that, moms are going to notice something is up. It's starting to get a little creepy too." I say, trying to bring up a point.

"But I'm gonna be an aunt! And Stef and Lena are gonna be grandmothers! I've been hiding this for like three months!"

"Moms are going to hate that you called them old, Mari," Everybody starts yelling for us too hurry up, complaining that they're all hungry for the cake, and I sigh. "Just don't say anything yet, okay?" Mariana ignores me, and goes into the kitchen.

All of us had just finished eating when the doorbell rings, and everybody groans, and I go get it. I'm surprised to see Caleb standing in front of me, looking at me hopelessly. "Can I see Ellie?"

I feel anger, and I want to slam the door in his face, and just leave him there, and not tell anybody that he was here. But I can't do that. It just isn't right, and one way or another, Callie would find out. "Why should I?" I spit out, not trying to hide my disgust at him.

He doesn't crumble at my distaste with him, he just starts talking, and I want to tell him to shut up. "B- Because I'm her father... And I brought her something. I-I also wanted to give you guys some money, Brandon."

I shake my head. "I'm her father. And we don't need any money. We can manage, we're doing completely fine."

"Please, Brandon. Just a few minutes."

"Callie!" I call, knowing that Callie would want to know that Caleb wants to see Ellie. I wouldn't make the choice to let him see her with Callie, and I know Callie wouldn't make it without me. I was just about to call for her again when she magically appears next to me, taking my hand.

"What this?" She asks, and before Caleb can say anything, I beat him to it.

"He wants to see Ellie."

Callie looks from Caleb, than to me, and she sighs. "No, Caleb. I'm sorry. She's happy right now, we don't need you to ruin it right now."

Caleb nods like he expected it to be Callie's response. "I- I understand. I know it Ellie's birthday, and I know she's happy. But please just take him. He's potty trained and everything. He... He just needs a name."

Both of us probably looked confused, and he bends down and picks up the puppy that was chewing on a bone, and he starts wagging his tail happily when he notices us. I can't help but reach over and pet his head, and I almost tell him that we can't take it. The puppy, which I decided is a golden doodle manages to squirm it's way out of Caleb's hands, making a run to the kitchen if it weren't for me getting him.

When I look back at Caleb, I know that he would never take no as answer. He might've earlier, but now, he would never when let either of us to try to tell him that we can't take it. He's already giving us the crate and a bag of food, telling us that he only need a name, and to tell Ellie happy birthday for him. Then he's gone, shaking his head as he walks away.

Callie and I look at each other, then a smile creeps onto both of our faces. And both of us are petting him as he tries to bite my shirt. Judging by his size. he is only a few weeks old, 10 weeks at the tops. "We should tell Ellie," I say, and Callie nods in agreement. Jude is the first one to see the dog in my hands, and all the sudden theres even more excitement, everybody circling us, asking us if we decided to get one tonight, what's his name. How old is he? Why did we end up getting one?

"Ellie," I hear Callie as everybody starts to calm down. "Come here, Baby. You wanna name him?" She asks, picking Ellie up, resting her on her waist as she starts giggling as he licks her nose, where there was still some frosting on her face.

"I can name him?" She asks, looking at me and Callie, and I nod. Praying to myself that it won't be Simba or Tarzan. Or Olaf. Frozen has become her new favorite Disney movie.

"Ozzy!" Ellie shouts, and Ethan takes the dog from me, a smile on his face. I look over at Callie, and she shrugs. For a puppy, Ozzy actually seems like a good name. Right now, Ozzy is licking Ethan's face, his tail wagging so hard I think it might fall off soon.

Less than an half hour later, Ethan is sitting next to Mariana, Ozzy curled up in a ball on Ethan's lap, half asleep. Since it's Ellie's birthday, Stef and Lena let Ellie picked the movie. It doesn't surprise me at all when she picks Frozen, demanding that we go straight to Elsa's song, Let it go. Stef convinces her to watch from the beginning.

I walk into the kitchen, knowing that Callie would be there, cleaning the dishes, no matter how many times I tell her to sit down. "Cals, come on. Ellie wants to watch Frozen. Come sit down."

Callie turns around to face me, leaning against the counter. "After this, I promise. There's only a few more plates," She pauses, picking up a plate with half eaten pice of cake. "Here. Finish this." The tv is blasting through the house, and I can hear for the first time in forever going on. I take the bite she offered me. I take the plate a fork from her, and put them in sink.

"Stef and Lena can do this," I tell her, my hand resting on her stomach, and my forehead rests against hers. "You're starting to show." I mumble.

"Well, if you keep touching my stomach like this, Stef and Lena will notice," Her response makes me smile. "And if you keep smiling like that."

"I want the baby to be here now. Like right now."

"You're gonna have to wait six more months, mister."

"I'm not waiting that long for the peanut to come. It needs to come faster so it doesn't think his name is peanut."

"You want a boy?" Callie asks, and I don't know what to say. I do want a boy, but I didn't want to say anything that could change the mood.

"Yeah. A girl would be just fine too. But I think it's gonna be a boy."

"Well, come up with a name so you don't keep calling it peanut."

I bury my face in her neck, nodding. "Hm. I'll do it tomorrow," I mumble, brushing my lips against her neck. The past few weeks, the least I've been able to do is kiss her. She was worry that it could hurt the baby in any way. I thought Callie would pull away, but she doesn't say anything. I move to the crook of her neck, and nip at the spot with my teeth, a soft moan escaping her lips. I move my lips up her neck slowly, leaving kisses along her jawline, and her fingers pull at my hair. The mark I left on her neck is noticeable, but I don't care. I resist the urge to lift her up and carry her to my room. But that wouldn't be the best idea, considering that I said Jesus can have my room.

My hand still rests on Callie's stomach, and I'm about to loose the little self control I have left in three... Two... I nip at her neck again gently, causing her to moan again. One.

Then Mariana comes in. She obviously didn't expect to see us like this, and we didn't expect anybody to come in the kitchen, seeing that they were all to busy watching Frozen. "Geez, Can't you to find another place?"

Callie and I mumble a sorry, but she's already walking back to the living room, acting like nothing happened. "How are we gonna tell everybody else?" Callie asks me.

"I still think that we shouldn't tell them until I know if I'm having a daughter or a son. I want to know. Now. Then peanut can be here."

"You really want to know?" Callie asks, and I nod.

"You went without me," I pout. "You've known for like a week. It's not fair."

Callie laughs at my playful expression. "I'm not telling you now, because you're gonna get to happy, and Stef and Lena are gonna find out."

"But I helped make peanut." I whine.

Callie sighs, but she's smiling. "I want to hear the names you have, then I'll tell you."

I weigh the trade in my mind, and cross off some of the names I have on the list. "Uh... For a boy I got Mason," Callie wrinkles her nose, and I know it's a no. I cross that one off. "Adien?" Callie doesn't say anything, so I go on. "Percy? And for a girl I have Kathryn, Megan, and uh Bree?"

Callie smiles. "I like Bree, too bad we can't use it."

I stare at her blankly, and she's looking at me, waiting for my response. We can't use it? I was about to ask her why, then I almost hit myself for how long it takes me to realize what she means.

"Peanut is a boy?" I ask her stupidly, and she nods. "Ha! I knew it. Now we have to pick a name for peanut!"

"Who the hell is peanut?" Both of us look over in the direction of the voice at the same time, only to see Jesus looking at us, confused. None of us say anything, and after a few minute of staring at us, a look of shock comes onto his face. "Moms!"


	2. Chapter 2

Brandon POV

"You're... Y- She's..." Everybody is in the kitchen now, everybody trying to decide if they should stare at Callie and I, or Jesus, who is still staring at us, a look of complete shock on his face, his mouth hanging open. He closes his mouth and swallows, then starts talking again. "Mariana! How long have you known? That I'm gonna be a freakin' uncle!"

Callie and I both let out a breath that we didn't realize that we were holding. I didn't expect Jesus to react to it like this. Sure, he'd be happy for us, but I never thought he'd be this happy that he's gonna be a uncle. Mariana and Jesus are the only ones who are talking, about how happy they are and how that they already want to help. "Is Jesus joking?" Callie asks, and I shrug.

"Cals, I honestly don't know. Ask him." I say, burying my face in her hair, just as confused and surprised as she is.

"Moms are staring at us," Callie informs me, even though it's quite obvious, how both of them seem to forget how there eyes or mouths work. "I don't want to say anything. We'll probably get a freakin' lesson."

"I think they can hear us," I whisper into her ear, and look back up at Stef and Lena, who still both have not moved, Jude right between them, not sure of what to do or to say, the same amount of shock on his face. "Maybe if we slowly walk away to a safe distance..." I say, grabbing Callie's hand and start to lead her out of the kitchen, knowing it would probably get Stef to snap out of it.

"Brandon Jonathan Foster! Get back in here right now!" Stef is now shouting, and I cringe.

"You're screwed?" Callie asks, looking up at me.

"So massively screwed," I confirm, sighing. Knowing that I would never leave this house again, no matter what I say or do to make up for it. "I'm gonna be grounded for life, Cals. I guess this is it, peanut."

I slowly walk back to the kitchen, Callie trailing behind me, and I grip her hand harder when I see that Stef and Lena have already started to make themselves coffee. "Make that two lives." I mutter to Callie, who laughs. Everybody is sitting down, except the spots they saved for Callie and I.

I expected Stef's face to be red with anger, already yelling at us for doing something so stupid, asking us what was going through our heads at the time, since we have Ethan and Ellie to worry about. I can tell that Callie excepted the same thing, and probably Jude ignoring her, but even he's smiling.

Stef sits down calmly, making me want to book it, run outside or something before she cracks and starts breathing fire at me and Callie. I can't forget about peanut too.

"How long have you been keeping this from us?" Lena asks, picking up Ellie as she starts to ask her if she can. She looks at us, not even close to looking disappointed in us. If anything, she looks almost proud.

"I- uh, We..." I grab Callie's hand again, trying to remind myself that she's fine. "A few weeks, right Cals? Three or four weeks."

Jesus, who has grown quite, a smile still on his face. "I guess your little swimmers won, huh?" He asks, grabbing a handful of grapes, ignoring Stef and Lena yelling at him, telling him not to say such things in front of Ellie and Ethan.

Stef turns her attention back to us, leaning on her elbows, staring at us. "How many weeks?" I look down at Callie, not knowing what to say, all I know is that I'm gonna have a son.

"Fourteen."

Suddenly there's a ear-piercing squeal, and Mariana is talking loudly, which causes Jesus start talking. "Callie, Is it a girl? Tell me it's a girl, please! Oh, can I help paint it's room? We have to start getting stuff!"

"It's gonna be a boy," Jesus tells her matter of factly, shrugging as he grabs another handful of grapes. "Then I can teach him how to wrestle. Not paint nails."

"I'll bet you 20 bucks it's a girl."

"Deal."

Everybody is quite again, and we're all looking at Callie, who's looking at Jude. I know she's worried that he hasn't said anything about it yet, probably hoping that he isn't mad at her, and she sighs, gripping my hand harder. "Are you okay with this, bud?"

Jude nods slowly, thinking it over as everybody starts to watch him. "I want to pick the middle name," He says simply, a smile coming onto his face, and I can tell Callie relaxes. "So, do you know if it's a girl or a boy?"

"Peanut is a boy," I tell him, and I hear Stef and Lena sigh, shaking their heads at me, and I know what's coming next, and I hear Callie laugh.

"Ha!" Jesus says, holding out his hand. "Twenty dollars. Now."

We ignore the twins. "You have been calling your child peanut?" Stef asks me, rubbing her eyes, and I nod. "Why? Do you want to think his name is peanut."

"Trust me, I've been stuck with it for weeks. He talks to him like he's going to talk back." Callie says, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Hey, you know someday, peanut will, okay? And I just found out he's gonna be a boy, like right before Jesus came in."

"Do you have any idea for names?" Lena asks.

"I did, but Callie didn't like them!"

"I liked Bree!"

"Yeah, we're totally going to name our son Bree," I say. "That's such a great name."

"I know, right? What's that other name you had? Peter? Wait, no. It was Percy, wasn't it?" Callie says, looking at me, then at Stef, as if to see she's okay with the name.

"Percy?" Stef asks, and Callie and I nod. "I like it. Guys, what do you think about it?" Stef has to snap her fingers in front of Jesus and Mariana faces to get their attention.

"Wha- Percy? Yeah, I like it." They say at the same time before turning back to their argument, and We look at Jude, who's already has a piece of paper, scribbling down names quickly.

"I like Percy," He says, not looking up from his paper. "I'm working on the middle name. It has to sound good. Give me until thursday."

That's when Ellie comes running back into the kitchen, pulling Lena behind her. "Mommy! Daddy! Lena said I'm going to have a new brother or sister!"

"That's right, baby girl. You won't be my little baby anymore," I tell her, causing a pout to come into her face, along with her puppy eyes that match Ozzy's. "You'll still be my princess, okay?"

"Where's the baby?" She asks, crossing her arms.

"It's in mommy's stomach, Little Bug."

"Why?"

"Because, it is," I tell her, not sure of what else to say. "But you're going to have a brother again, okay?"

"Do you love him?" She asks, looking right at me, her head cocked to the side, looking at me confused. It's hard to take her seriously with her covered in chocolate, making her look like a mud monster.

Not sure of where she was leading with all of her questions, I nod. "We do. Why are you asking?"

"Then why did she eat him?"

The excitement of Callie being pregnant finally calmed down, and we all went to go finish Frozen. Moms were still in shock when we started to leave two hours later, asking questions like, Are you sure? Can I touch your stomach? Basically all over Callie.

I just finished putting Ellie to bed, who wouldn't let Ozzy go, at least not until I promised her that he won't be all alone in his cage with the rope that came in it. Ethan was even more worn out than Ellie, almost falling asleep on the couch if it weren't for me.

"Both things are in bed," I tell Callie, throwing back the sheets and climbing in next to her, only to throw the covers over our heads. "Ozzy's in his cage."

Callie nods, closing her eyes.

"You tired?" I ask, and she nods again. I rest my hand on her stomach, it's become a habit. "You know, Percy, It's not nice to make mommy tired like this."

"You're talking to him again?" Callie asks, and I shrug. "I feel like you expect him to answer you half of the time."

"He will someday," I tell her, turning my attention back to him. "Yeah, you hear that? Your mommy thinks I'm weird."

"Hey! I didn't say that."

"It's okay, though. You're mommy is the best one in the world. Don't tell Grandma Stef I said that, she'll kill me before I get the chance to see you. Anyways, no making your beautiful mommy tired."

"I can hear you, you know that right?"

"I love you," I mumble, kissing her forehead. "And I love you, Percy."


	3. Chapter 3

When I wake up, Callie isn't next to me. I almost didn't expect her to be, but I was still a little worried when she isn't. I sigh, and pull myself out of bed, causing Ozzy to go crazy when he sees me, scratching at the cage. I almost forgot about Caleb giving him to us, and I want to shout for Ellie and Ethan to keep him company while I go to Callie. No surprise, I find Callie in the bathroom, brushing her teeth.

"Cals," I say, leaning against the door frame. "You should have woken me up. I don't mind it when you wake me up." I rather have her wake me up instead of having her being up herself with her morning sickness.

Callie shakes her head, not meeting my eyes. "I-it's fine," She mutters. "Really, it is."

"Are you sure? I mean, I-" The next thing I know is that Callie is wrapping her arms around my neck, her face buried in the crook. It's really stupid, but I don't know what to do, so I do what normally comforts her. I run my fingers through her hair, telling her it's okay.

"What's wrong with mommy?"

I look down at Ellie, who's hugging her teddy bear. "Nothing, Ellie. Why don't you go watch some cartoons, and I'll make you breakfast in a while, okay?"

It was obvious that something was bothering Callie, and I feel like the stupidest person in the world when I ask her if she's okay. It's literally one of the worst things you ask somebody when you know it's not okay. She doesn't even answer. "What's wrong?" I mutter, still not sure of what else to do.

"It.. it hurts." At first, I don't get what she means, then I'm ready to hit myself from being so clueless. Callie has morning sickness.

"Do you want to eat anything?" I ask, and she shakes her head.

"It'll just come back up."

I sigh, shaking my head. She has to eat something, right? I only imagine it being worse if she doesn't eat. "Come on, Cals," I mumble. "You have to eat something."

I hear Callie sigh, and she's shaking her head, mumbling something to herself that I can't hear. I still don't know what to say, but I notice she's crying, and before I can say anything, she's talking like a timed bomb. "I can't do this, B. Not anymore. We're so stupid! I mean, what where we thinking when we did all of this? We're only sixteen, and we already adopted two kids? And I'm pregnant? I don't want to be like one of those kids on teen mom or something."

I don't do anything for a few minutes. She's right, what where we thinking? We can't do this, not when we're still working to support ourselves. It just isn't going to work out. She's got a point too, what the hell were we thinking that night? That it'd be all good and we would get a free card? I doubt that.

"You aren't like those girls," I tell her, telling myself that's she's not. At least, I don't think she is. Those are girls who have no idea what they're going to do. But Callie? She knows how to take care of people. "We can do this, okay? You wanna know how I know? Because it's what you do. You don't realize it, but you always take care of people. We'll do it, okay?"

I wipe the tears away from her cheeks, hating to see her like this. Only the good people get all of the pain that they don't deserve. Compared to Callie, I'm weak. "Please don't cry, Cals," I plead, kissing her forehead. Not wanting to see her cry. It just made me feel weird, I'm still so used to her not crying at all. "I don't like it when you cry."

Callie manages to give me a smile, and even though it's forced, I feel satisfied that I managed to get her to stop crying. I hear her mutter a thank you, and I want to ask her why. All I did was talk to her. "No problem," I tell her. "Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?"

Callie shakes her head, and I watch her as she walks into the living room, probably to say good morning to Ellie and Ethan, if he's up by now. I take my phone out of my pocket and call Stef. She answers right away. "Uh, Hey Mom." I say awkwardly.

"Is everything alright?" Stef asks worriedly, and I almost regret calling her. Maybe her act of being okay with it will break soon. There's no way she's completely calm about Callie being pregnant. She's probably waiting for the perfect moment to pounce. "Callie is okay, right?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose."Yes, everything is fine. Well, not everything, I guess. Callie won't eat anything. This is normal for morning sickness, right?"

I hear Stef laugh, and say a few things to Lena, who with no doubt heard every word I said. "Yes, it is Brandon. When I was pregnant with you, I had terrible morning sickness, but Mike always made me eat something. See if you can get her to eat Toast or soup. Something light, B."

I nod even though she can't see me. "Okay, something light. Yeah, I got that, I'll talk to you later."

Stef starts to say something, but I already hit the end button. I didn't need her to start yelling at me over the phone. I know that she'll regret being so nice about it. Judging by the tone of her voice before I hung up, she was ready to snap.

I slowly make my way to the living room, only to see Ellie sitting in Callie's lap, while Ethan is holding Ozzy, their eyes glued to the screen, and I can hear Wreck it Ralph yelling. Callie, well, she's half asleep. I decide that I'll leave her alone, for now. "Do you guys want breakfast?" I ask Ellie and Ethan, pausing the movie.

"Pancakes!" Ellie shouts, startling Callie. Callie being Callie, just looks at me like, You're going to give her pancakes again?

"Are you positive that you don't want anything?" I ask her, ignoring my vibrating phone, knowing that it was probably Stef. When Callie shakes her head, I sigh, and sit down next to her. I wrap my arm around her shoulder, trying to tell myself she'll be okay and that she won't starve herself. "Please just eat something. Like soup or toast."

"I'll try some toast." I hear Callie mumble, and I smile to myself, and I kiss the top of her head, which only causes her to grip my shirt even tighter. I was just about to ask if there was something else bothering her, when I hear the door fly open, and I sigh. With no doubt it's Mariana, and my guess is proven right when I hear Ellie yelling at her.

I look down at Callie, who's face is buried in my chest as she sighs. "Do you want to try some toast now?"

When I get to the kitchen, I'm not surprised to see Ellie talking to Mariana. "Why are you here today?" I ask, and it's kinda rude, but still.

Mariana shrugs and looks down at Ellie. "Moms are fighting, so I figured it be better if I got out of the house for a while since Jude is at Connor's, and who knows where Jesus is."

I sigh, and shake my head. "Do you know what they're fighting about?" I ask, even though I have a good idea. If it was enough to make Mariana leave, it's a big one. They never fight in front of us. It just seemed to make life easier for all of us, and now with a young kid like Jude in the house, it did make a difference.

"I think you already know the answer to that, B." Mariana tells me, shaking her head, looking away from me. And I do. I've been waiting for it to happen, waiting for Stef to just snap and go all cop on us.

"Yeah, whatever. While you're here, do you want some pancakes like Ellie and Ethan?" I ask her, not sure of what else to do. "Callie's having toast."

I end up making everybody breakfast, and Callie managed to eat the toast I made her when Stef tries calling me again. I want to hit myself, and I still ignore it. I tell Mariana to keep Callie company, and decide that I'm going to talk to Stef, let her yell at me all she wants.

By the time I get to the house, I can hear the yelling through the front door. I'm not very surprised when I hear Mike as well. I figured it was only time that they would tell him. I think about turning around and going back home, with Callie but that's not a choice. I'd rather have them yell at me than Callie.

They all look at me when I open the door, and I regret even thinking about coming over here. "Wonderful time to join us, B." Mike says, and I almost cringe. It's obvious that he's angry at me too.

"I highly doubt that," I mutter to myself, shaking my head. "I'm gonna be dead by the time this is over."

Then Stef explodes.

For the first few minutes, I don't even understand her, partly because she's talking so fast, and partly because Lena is trying to clam her down. When Lena gives up, Stef suddenly stops, shaking her head. "B, you're only seventeen years old! What the hell are you thinking? That you can have your own family? You can't do it! Ellie and Ethan are already enough, don't you think?"

I don't respond to her at all, I just look at her, then to Mike, who looks just as mad, but he doesn't have the heart to be talking. Yet. Me, well I'm ready to yell right back at them.

Stef sighs before she goes on. "B, the least you could've done is use prote-"

"You're telling me this?" I suddenly demand, my hands balling into fists. "You know stuff like this can happen, mom! I know you do! Ellie and Ethan have nothing to do with this! I'm making my own choices and I don't need you to tell me it's wrong, okay? You might think it's a mistake, but maybe it's not! Maybe you should rethink that because here I am!"

"B, what are you talking about?"

"I know that I'm a mistake, Mom! You never wanted me to happen! I know a lot more than you think!" Stef opens her mouth, probably to tell me it's not true, but I've had enough if her bullshit. "No, mom, it doesn't matter anymore. It's to late, isn't it? You can't change me, right? Mistakes happen. Trust me, I know that better than anybody else."

"Can you two please stop fighting?" Lena demands, looking at me than to Stef.

I ignore her, and look back at Stef. "Regretting anything now?" I demand, shaking my head. "Using Dad like that?"

"B, I'm sorry, B. I'm so sorry."

Everything in me tells me to believe her, to tell her that I'm sorry for yelling at her like this. But I'm not. I'm not sorry at all, but my brain tells me otherwise, that she's telling the truth. But she can't be, she wasn't telling the truth at all. If I didn't look at her eyes, her body actions would have told me otherwise. But her eyes tell me different. They tell me that she's not sorry, but that she probably regrets even thinking about raising me.

And it hurts me more than it hurts her.

"That's bullshit."

"Brandon, how dare you talk to your mother like that?" Mike says, making me remember that he was even here. "Say you're sorry right now!"

"It's kinda too late for me to say sorry, Dad. I think you should be the one saying sorry. You're never here, and you just magically appear now, and you want me to say sorry?" I shake my head at him. "It wouldn't surprise me if you walk out again."

I'm pretty sure it surprised them just as much as it surprised me when I'm the one who slams the door in their faces.


	4. Chapter 4

By the time I get home, my anger has only grown. It really doesn't help matters that Ellie has decided to become sassy and do the complete opposite of what anybody tells her. Even Mariana, who she usually always listens to. My phone was turned off. Thank god. If it wasn't, Callie or I would've broken it by now.

When Mariana's phone goes off, she just stares at it, then at us, waiting for us to yell or snap at her. "It's Stef," Mariana says, holding it up. "Should I answer it?"

I shrug, not caring if Mariana answered it. I just do not want to talk to Stef. I'm going to be on her bad side for years. If that's possible. "Do what ever you want to. Just let her know that I'm never answering a phone call from her or Mike again." I grumble as Mariana rolls her eyes and answers it.

Stef isn't clear when she's yelling at Mariana through the phone. And Mariana just looks bored, nodding as if to agree with her even though Stef can't see her. "Uh, mom? Brandon told me to tell you that he's never gonna answer his phone again if you're calling him."

I sigh, and bury my face in my hands, shaking my head at how stupid I was to even tell Mariana that, and Callie just laughs, rubbing my back. It's childish, but it's true. Then I hear Stef yelling again, and it's a lot clearer now, seeing that Mariana put her on speaker.

"-I mean, he's only seventeen and Callie is sixteen. Anything can change. They can break up again or something," Mariana looks over at us while Stef pauses, giving us a look like She's crazy. "I-"

"Mom?" Mariana asks, sighing. "I hope you know that he can hear everything you say, so can Ethan and Ellie. And to be honest, I think you're being a little unfair about this. They're already doing so well with Ethan and Ellie, and they've been taking care of Ellie since she was a baby. What makes it different this time?"

This time, it's Stef who doesn't have anything to say, and she hangs up, muttering a quick goodbye. Surprised, I stare at Mariana, who just shrugs when she sees me staring at her. Mariana, the one who is usually quite about what she thinks of a certain situation. But even her question has me thinking.

What is so different this time? Callie and I have been talking care of Ellie since she was only six months old. That is good enough, right? I try to tell myself that it is, but another part tells me it's not. Ellie would somehow be different than raising Percy, won't it? At first, we were only taking care if her and Ethan because we felt bad. It slowly was because we actually care about Ellie and Ethan enough, wasn't it? Callie and I started to feel like their parents, and we are. But what if that changes when Percy comes?

I tell myself it would not change, partly because I would never let Ellie or Ethan be with Caleb again. It just isn't worth it, letting them go back to him. I can see him still going to Vegas every weekend, no matter if somebody is watching them or not. Just because Percy will be my real child, it should not change, right?

I feel Callie hand grip mine, her cold fingers interlocking with mine. "Hey, B, you okay?" She asks, probably noticing that I haven't said anything in a while. I look over at her, her brown eyes full of worry, and I want to tell her that I'm fine, and that she should be worried about herself, looking at the circles underneath her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mutter, gripping her hand tighter as I lean back, closing my eyes. "Why?" My mind starts to wander back to me yelling at Stef. The look on her face told me that it pained her more to hear it than it did for me to say it.

"You just seem a little off," Callie says, her head resting on my shoulder, and I can't help but smile. "I'm making sure you're okay." She says quietly.

"I'm fine," I tell her, trying to convince myself more than her. I don't feel fine. At least not right now with the thoughts running through my head. I can't just tell Callie that I'm worried that I won't love Ellie or Ethan when Percy comes along; it'll just make her worry about it as well. And as far as I'm concerned, Callie shouldn't be worrying about anything right now. "Just thinking 'bout stuff."

"Like the fight with Stef?" Callie asks, and I sigh, not sure of where this is leading too. The worst thing that could happen is I get into a fight with Callie this time. It would be worse than having Callie worry about something, right now, at least.

"Somewhere along those lines," I answer carefully, running my fingers through my hair. I need a hair cut. Desperately. I'll worry about it later. "But let's just forget about it for now, okay, Cals? Just enjoy today."

I feel strange tell her that, like anything can happen and take everything away from us, and I can tell her notices, but doesn't point it out. We sit there, watching the TV with the rest of them, until I fall asleep with Callie close to me, comforting me.

* * *

When I wake up, I'm surprised that Mariana is still here, leaning against the counter, watching Ellie and Ethan to make sure that they finish their dinner. "You know, you could've woken me up, Mariana." I tell her, yawning.

Mariana just looks at me like I'm crazy. "Trust me, you and Callie both needed the sleep, and besides watching them for a while is the least I could do for you two. It's not like they were bad."

I sigh, and run my fingers through my hair. "Thanks, Mariana." I tell her, because she's right Callie did need the sleep, and it's a good thing that she is still asleep.

Mariana just smiles. "They're good kids, B. I don't mind, besides, Ellie calls me her aunt."

"You know, sometimes I think that's the only reason why you even bother with them," I tell her, getting myself a cup of water. "But then sometimes you seem like you actually care about them."

"I do care about them, Brandon. As much as you do? Maybe not, but I do care about them... I feel bad for them, well I did the first time I met them. But they have you and Callie, and to be honest, with two people like you two, sometimes that's all you need. You're always trying to do something for somebody else, no matter what it is. And if they start to go in the wrong direction, you're always there to help them. Most people would give up by now, B."

"You'll soon realize that sometimes it's the least you can do for somebody, Mariana. If you care about them or not, it doesn't really matter."

Mariana just nods, and looks down at her phone. "I have to go, moms want me home before dinner. I can come by again tomorrow if you want me too." Mariana offers, waving goodbye to Ethan and Ellie.

"That's fine, if you want." I tell her shrugging.

"I'll see you later." Is all she says before leaving.

It's a lot later than I thought, and Ellie, she's half asleep, so I bring her to her room, knowing that it'd easier than trying to get her to go to bed later. Callie talking to Ethan by the time I get Ellie to fall asleep, and i can hear Ethan mumbling something about being worried, and all the thoughts from ealier come back. Ethan is worried about the same thing, that we would end up caring more about Percy than them, and I can hear Callie comforting him. That's when I decide to butt in, telling him that it's time for all of us to go to bed, and he just looks at me blankly before saying goodnight to Callie and lets me tuck him in. Before I leave, almost to convince myself that nothing would change, I kiss the top of his head, "I love you, Buddy." I tell him.

Callie can't fall asleep, and I know what Ethan said to her earlier has her thinking, to the point where she's thinking that she doesn't need to sleep. I roll over, and wrap my arm around her waist, burying my face in her neck, closing my eyes. "You okay?" I mumble, and I feel her shrug.

"What if Ethan is right, B? I don't want that to happen, I mean, I love Ethan and Ellie just as much as I'll love Percy, right?"

"I don't know, Cals. I don't know."

I feel her roll over to face me, and I'm afraid that she's crying. "What do you think?" She asks me, and I know that I have no choice to answer her.

"I think that it shouldn't matter. I mean, look at Stef and Lena. Ethan and Ellie are our just as much Percy is. It shouldn't make a difference, right?"

I hear Callie sigh, "That's what I'm worried about."

I want to change the topic, make it about anything but this. I don't want to think about is, much less talk about it. "This is why you can't sleep, right?" I ask, making Callie sigh again.

"Yeah, why?'

I'm already getting out of bed, thinking about my keyboard that's in the corner of the room. I tug her hand, and she sighs again as I turn on the light. "Come on," I tell her, moving all of the paper of my un-finished songs, gesturing for her to sit next to me. "I'll play for you."

I watch Callie carefully as she picks up a piece of paper, and I mentally hit myself for not putting it away. It's nowhere close too done. "This one?" She asks quietly, handing it to me.

"It's not done," I tell her, hoping it'll work. "Not even close."

"That's okay. Just what you have?"

I think about getting her guitar and playing it on that, seeing that it would sound better, but I stay put, and take a deep breath before I start playing.

_I think we might be outlaws._

_I think I might be in love._

_Cause I'm all out of reasons,like seasons,winter, summer, fall they're all wash up._

_And you're still way over there, slide on in by my side_

_'Cause I'm just an outlaw, Wanted if you want me._

_I love you everyday and every night._

I look down at Callie, who had rested her head on my shoulder, and she's just staring at me, and I can't help but stare back, at lost for words. Maybe she hated it, I don't know. Then suddenly her lips are on mine, hard and fast.

_Well_, I think. _At least she liked it._

I tell myself to not kiss her back, or get to excited. Callie could end up backing out any moment. When she suddenly pulls away, I know I was right. Until she bites her bottom lip, looking at me. "Kiss me," I hear her whisper. "I know you want to. Just kiss me."

And with out thinking, that's exactly what I do. I take her face in my hands and kiss her roughly, and Callie kisses me back, her hands going underneath my shirt, and I can't help but travel to her jawline, a soft moan escaping her lips.

_Get somewhere comfortable_, A voice in the back of my head tells me.

I lift her up from the chair easily, and manage to turn the light off as I make my way to the bed, tripping over one of my shoes, causing Callie to laugh at me.

"Lucky you didn't drop me."

I smile and nod. "Yeah, and even if I did, you'd be on the bed." I kiss her again, and she sighs into it as one of her hands find my hair. I feel her hands move from my hair, to my back, tugging at my shirt, pulling it over my head. Her actions only cause me to want her even more, her hands going up and down my back. My hands move down her body, to her hips, causing her shirt to slide up a little bit, revealing her skin, and I pull her closer to me, my bare skin brushing against the fabric of her shirt. And it out thinking, I start push it off, too slowly, maybe because Callie pauses and it lands somewhere on the floor behind me.

"Callie..." I mumble, not entirely sure. I already got her pregnant, and here I am pinning her to the bed, going in the direction of having sex with her again, but it still doesn't stop me from moving my hands up her bare back to her bra clasp. "Are you sure about this?"

In her response, she kisses me again, pressing our bodies together as I struggle to unclasp her bra. In a swift movement, Callie moves her hands from my back and does it easily. "I still don't get how girls do that." I mumble, burying my face in her neck, our legs tangling together, and I manage to pull the covers over our heads.

The next thing I know his that I'm on my back, Callie's fingers still in my hair, her swollen lips barely brushing against mine.

Callie and I are quite for a few minutes, until I kiss her again, trailing down to her neck. Then Callie's hands drop from my hair. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I ask, looking at her, making sure she's okay.

"It's probably nothing. You locked the front door, right?"

"Yeah. Even the bolt. Why?" I ask, resting my forehead on hers.

"I thought I heard a door open," Callie says, shrugging. "It's nothing."

I brush off the uncomfortable feeling I started to get, and nod. "Yeah, just nothing." I mumble, kissing her neck again.

Then just to prove how wrong we are, I can hear Ellie calling for me through our closed door. "Daddy?"

"Shit," I whisper. I should've known that Ellie wouldn't stay asleep that long, since I moved her to her bed. That never works out. She always wake up in the middle of the night when I do. "Maybe if we act like we're not here?" I say, looking at Callie.

"Yeah, that's a great idea, let her think we left her and her brother alone in the dead of night." Callie answers.

I smile. "We did sorta forget about them for a while, you do realize that, right?" I ask as our door creaks open.

"Daddy?"

I sigh, and roll off of Callie, peeking out from the covers, only to see Ellie standing there, hold her teddy bear to her chest.

"Yeah?" I ask, hoping that she won't ask to sleep with us. Then she'll notice something. Then there'll questions. Awkward questions. Callie and I, we'd probably come up with the worst explanations ever.

"I can't sleep. Can you bring me back to bed?"

I sigh, and run my fingers through my hair, relived that she only woke up, and didn't have a bad dream. Then, there'd be no way of keeping her out of the bed. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute, okay?"


	5. Chapter 5

My arms are still wrapped loosely around Callie waist when there's shouting, and I know it's Ellie and Ethan. Ellie, probably just being her normal self is just happy, and Ethan, he's probably happy that he's off from school, even if it's only for two days. The weekend always goes by fast.

"Come on, daddy! I'm hungry!"

I ignore Ellie and bury my face into Callie's neck again. "Hopefully Percy won't need to eat this much," I mumble, closing my eyes again. "We're gonna run out of food in an hour."

Callie lets out a small laugh, and I smile, my fingers lacing with hers. "He'll probably be a lot louder than Ellie, though."

"I've already bought my earplugs," I tell her as Ellie runs back out of our room, yelling something about the dog. "I'm gonna go get them."

"Wait," Callie mumbles, her arm wrapping around me tighter, burying her face in my chest. "Do you have to go to work today?"

I sigh, and run my fingers through her hair. "I actually don't know," I tell her, but I mentally pray that I don't have to. But if anything, I'm gonna have to stay longer today if I do end up going. "And if I do, Mariana is coming over again, she can help you with Ethan and Ellie."

"I want you to stay."

Callie's words make me smile, and I kiss the top of her head. "I want to stay home too, but I have to keep my job if Percy wants to eat," I tell her, running my fingers through my hair, to keep it out of my eyes. "And I swear to god, no more chocolate. Lena is gonna kill me when she finds out that I let you eat all of this stuff."

Both of us look over at the table next to our bed when I hear my phone vibrating. I ignore it, looking down at her, and she has her eyebrow raised.

I sigh, and grab my phone, my weight on my elbows. "Hello?" I ask, and my voice sounds raspy, so I clear my throat.

"You alright kid?" Justin asks me, his familiar deep voice reaching me, and he sounds like he's almost drunk, or at least he hasn't gotten a lot of sleep.

"I'm fine. Just woke up, why?" I ask him, suddenly concerned that something is wrong, knowing him, he wouldn't tell me until he felt like its gotten really bad. "Are you okay?"

Justin let's out a lung bursting cough. "You're worried about me? Quit worrin' about me, kid. You'll only make yourself feel bad when you shouldn't. I was just callin' to see if you're up for working today."

I look over at Callie, and I groan, rubbing my eyes. "Yeah, I'll come. I still gotta do the lessons, don't I?"

I hear him mumble a few things to himself a few curse words reach my ears, and I want to hang up, but I decide against it, and suddenly he's talking to me again. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. It's just getting lonely here. If you do plan on coming, can you bring Ethan?"

I feel bad. He's working alone for almost two weeks, and he's still willing to let me work today. It doesn't seem to affect him much, but I still feel bad

"Yeah, sure," I tell him, thinking that it won't hurt to have one of the kids out of the house for a few hours. Besides, Ethan would probably need it. He doesn't seem as happy playing the piano here compared when we're at the store. "I'll be there in a hour, okay?"

Justin starts mumbling again before he hangs up. I sigh, and run my fingers pulling at it. "I have to go," I tell Callie, getting out of bed, pulling on a pair of boxers and my jeans. "Hey, Ethan!" I call, stumbling out of mine and Callie's room, closing the door behind me. "You wanna come to work with me today?"

I ask as I see Ethan sitting at the kitchen table, his eyebrows scrunched together as he focuses on the chocolate milk that he is making for Ellie. "You okay?" I ask him, resting my hand on his shoulder, his body tensed up. He hasn't been like this in a while, ever since he finally got comfortable here. It only reminds me even more of how Callie was. "Yeah, I'll get my shoes."

I smile, and look at Ellie. "Chocolate milk for breakfast?" I ask her, kissing her cheek, causing her to giggle.

"Can I still have toast?" She asks, turning her attention back to the colouring book in front of her.

I sigh, and I turn on the toaster, and Callie comes into the kitchen wearing one of my shirts. "You know, if you keep taking them, I won't have any to wear."

"That's good," Callie mumbles, picking Ellie up. "What's for breakfast?"

I look around, confused for a minute. None of this is stuff Callie has been wanting to eat. "I- uh, I don't know. Whatever you want?" I offer.

Just then Mariana comes in, and Ellie is yelling like always, and Ethan comes back in, tying his shoes. "Mariana is here." He announces, even though it's kinda unnecessary.

"Alright, are you ready to go, buddy?" I ask him and he nods. I look over at Mariana. "Mari, I'm going to work for a few hours today, just make sure Callie eats something, okay?"

"I'm not going to let my sister starve," She says, putting down Ellie, and looks over at her. "Somebody was getting friendly." Mariana says, probably towards the hickey on Callie's neck.

I ignore her comment, and I grab the keys off of the counter, grabbing Ethan gently by the arm.

Ethan finally relaxes when we get to the store, Justin eyes seem to light up when he sees Ethan, and that's when I realise that the long days that Ethan spent at the store when he father wouldn't watch him, Justin was the one taking care of him. Until I came along and started teaching him how to play the piano.

I feel bad. I feel like that I took Ethan away from Justin, which explains why he offered to take care of them. And all I did was say no and adopt him.

"You alright kid?" Justin asks.

"Wha- Oh, yeah, I'm fine," I tell him, pushing the thoughts out of my head. "Just tired."

"You look like you were up late last night." Justin say, flipping the sign to open.

"Yeah, I was." I say, brushing him off.

Justin doesn't question it, and I realise how familiar it is. Sure, he pushed on certain things, but he always knew when to stop. Or when to be calm. Maybe he would've been better for Ethan.

The next thing that I know, is that people are offering to pay me much more than they should to give their children. I have to convince them that I'll get to their child someday, trying to squeeze everybody into my small schedule, knowing that it'll help.

The day actually goes by faster, some of the kids in my opinion didn't even need the lessons, and some, I was ready to pull my own hair out.

Justin asked me if it was okay that he went home early, and since I haven't been to work for almost a week, I tell him that it's fine. The store slowly started to get quiet again, and that's when I notice that Ethan is looking out the window, staring at something. At least for ten minutes by now.

"What you looking at, bud?" I ask, and Ethan sighs, his face press up against the glass.

"Something's wrong," I hear him mutter. "Something's wrong over there."

I look in the direction Ethan pointing in, and at first, I see nothing, until Ethan points out that it's a girl. "See?" He asks, looking at me. "There's something wrong with her."

I sigh and look down at him. "Do you want me to go see what's wrong?" I ask him, and he looks up at me.

"I wanna come with you." He tells me simply.

"Woah, woah," I say, stopping him from opening the door. "You're not coming with me. Stay here, and I'll see if you can come, okay?"

Ethan looks disappointed, but he nods. "Promise?"

"Yeah, I'll be back, okay?"

I don't wait for his response, instead I walk out the door, and still see his face pressed up to the window, watching me. I sigh, and run my fingers through my hair. Then just my luck, it starts to rain. I pull my sweatshirt closer to me, hoping to stay warm.

"You okay?" I call, and the girl flinches.

"I'm fine," I hear her mumble, shaking her head as if to say he doesn't actually care. "Just leave me alone. You don't care."

That's when I realise that I do care, if I know her or not. To me, I've seen too many people get hurt, or seen them deal with their pain. I realise that I want to make it all go away for her.

"Please," I plead her, taking off my sweatshirt, noticing her shiver. "Please let me help you, okay? I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise." I tell her offering my sweatshirt to her.

She takes it, finally looking at me, and that's when I see the bruise on her cheek. And her busted lip. The dark circles underneath her eyes. Like a moron, I open my mouth. "You look horrible. Who did this to you?"

Then suddenly she's sobbing, burying her face in my chest. Shivering, saying something about how stupid she is, to believe him. Saying that she should've broken up with him when she had the choice. I mentally curse myself for not having my phone, I left it in the store with Ethan.

"It's okay now, I promise. I'm gonna take you inside, okay? You'll be warm inside." I say, leading her to the store, the doors already open, Ethan yelling at me to hurry up.

She only nods, sitting in the first chair she sees, shivering again. I grab my phone, fumbling with my words. "I- uh, I have a phone," I say dumbly, causing her to look at me. "Do you wanna call your parents or something?"

I notice that her lips had turned blue, and quickly had on, "Coffee or tea? I got some, I think."

She just takes my phone quietly, typing in a number, and whoever she class answers quickly. "I need you to pick me up. I'm at the music store." Is all she says, before handing it back to me, staring into nothing.

After about an hour of awkward questions, and nothing in response, there's a knock at the door, probably because I locked the door. I open it, only to see a boy about my age.

"Where's my sister?" He asks, pushing past me, only to see her wearing my sweatshirt.

The moment he sees her bruises and her busted lip, he turns on me. "Do you know who did this to her?" He demands, his voice low.

I shake my head, not able to form words at first. "N-No," I stutter, and curse myself. "I just brought her in here because she looked like she need help. But she had said something about her boyfriend." I offer him.

I can see the anger in his face, and he grabs her by the arm gently, "Lets get you cleaned up, okay?" Then he looks at me, some of the anger gone. "Thank you."


	6. Chapter 6

"How was work?" Mariana asks the moment I walk through the door, her eyebrow raised at mine and Ethan soaked clothes. "You were working later than you said you would."

"That's because I got held up," I say, hanging up my sweatshirt to let it dry, taking Ethan's from him. "I had to wait for a girl's brother to pick her up."

Mariana looks at me confused, looking up from her phone. "You had to wait for a girls brother to come?"

"Yeah!" I say, probably to quickly at to loudly, holding my hands up in defense. "Ethan is the one who saw her. My boss had to leave early, so I took over for a while, and Ethan saw her. She was hurt, so I offered her to stay until her brother came by to pick her up."

Mariana just looks at me, then at Ethan. "Name? Birthday? When's the wedding?" She asks, and I just groan, shaking my head at her.

"I don't know her name," I mutter, running my fingers through my hair. "And she was like fourteen or something. I'm not just going to marry a girl I just met, Mariana."

"I was ju-"

"Where's Callie?" I ask, just noticing her absence, it was just Mariana and Ellie sitting on the couch.

"She's sleeping. I figured I just leave her alone, so Ellie ended up wanting to watch the Lion King."

I nod, before I disappear into Callie and my room, leaving Mariana alone with Ethan and Ellie. Callie must've heard me come in, because she rolls over, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" She asks quietly.

"It's 7:30," I offer to her, laying down next to her. "Are you alright?" I ask her, and she sighs.

"I'm just tired."

I nod, and bury my face in her neck, wrapping my arm around her waist. "I think something is bothering Mariana," I mumble, playing with her fingers. "She's been coming over here almost everyday. Kinda weird for her, huh?"

"I haven't really thought about it much, maybe it's because of Stef and Lena fighting? She mentioned something about it earlier." Callie mumbles, burying her face in my chest.

I almost hit myself for being so stupid, I'm probably the reason why they're fighting, and for it to be bad enough to drive Mariana out of the house, I doubt they'll stop anytime soon. "I should go talk to them," I tell Callie. "I feel bad for yelling at them like that."

"Tonight?" Callie asks, and I know that by the tone of her voice, she doesn't want me to.

"No, I'll go talk to them before work tomorrow. I don't wanna go any where else today, and besides, it's almost time for bed for Ellie and Ethan. I should go help them get ready."

Callie starts to get up. "I'll do i-"

"Woah, uh. There's no way I'm letting you get out of bed right now. I've got this. You're staying here." I tell her, causing her to groan.

"You know, I'm only five months pregnant, not nine."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just stay here and go back to bed," I tell her, kissing the top of her head, making sure that the door is fully closed behind me. "Ethan! Ellie! It's time for bed!" The TV is still on, and Mariana is asleep with Ellie on the couch, and Ethan is on the floor, watching the movie.

I pick up Ellie, and bring her to her room, making sure that she has her blanket and her teddy bear, pulling the covers up to her chin. I mumble a goodnight to her, even though she can't hear me. Ethan had already turned off the TV when I get back into the living room.

"You want me to bring you to bed, Ethan?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"No, it's okay." Then he disappears into his room.

"Well," I grumble, shaking Mariana shoulder. "It was good to see you too," Mariana doesn't wake up, and I sigh, running my fingers through my hair, shaking her shoulder again. "Come on, moms are gonna be mad that you're not home by now." I tell her as she grumbles something, rubbing her eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm up. I get it. I'll leave, okay?" Mariana says, not bothering to hide her sour mood. "I'm getting kick out every where these days," I hear her grumble, probably thinking that I can't hear her. "I go home. Moms are fighting and just happen to start yelling at me. Lexi is gone. Zac has to take care of his mom. Emma wants to spend time with Jesus. I stay here. It's time to go home, Mariana. Moms are gonna be mad." She grumbles, shaking her head.

I run my fingers through my hair and sigh. "Uh, Mariana?" I ask, stuffing my hand in my pocket.

She looks up at me, shrugging. "Yeah, I know. I'm going, alright?"

"You can stay here if you want tonight," I mumble, looking down at my shoes. "But you're gonna have to sleep on the couc-"

"Forget it, B. I'm going home. That's what you want me to do, right?"

"No," I tell her, shaking my head. "I want you to stay here so you don't have to hear them fight. Please, just stay for the night, okay?" I say, starting to plead her. I don't want her to hear moms fighting if it's this bad. "You don't have to worry about anything."

Then Mariana is crying.

And I don't know, no, I do know. I just don't want to admit it. "Hey, hey," I mumble, sitting down on the couch next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulder. "It's okay, I promise."

I can barely understand her when she speaks. Or at least tries too. "What's gonna happen with moms, B? Everything's changed since you and Callie left. They fight over everything now. Sometimes I just wish you guys never left." Mariana mumbles. Then I start to feel bad.

I want to smack myself. Of course they're still fighting over the fact of me and Callie even being together. It only adds more to fight about when Callie's pregnant.

"You're going to stay here. I don't care if it's a school day or whatever moms say, okay? You're staying here for tonight."

Then I leave Mariana by herself, not sure of what else to do.

When I get to my house this morning, nobody was ready for school yet, and Stef hadn't even left for school yet. I guess it's a good thing that I brought Ethan to school before I came here. I can tell Stef and Lena are surprised to see me at the front door.

Lena, well she's much nicer than Stef, and it doesn't surprise me much. "Would you like to come in?" She asks while Stef face is full of anger and she fumbles to find the right words.

"Where is Mariana? Is she okay?" Stef asks.

"She's in the car," I answer, running my fingers through my hair. "She's not coming in until you guys stop fighting. At least that's what she told me."

Lena and Stef sigh, and Lena looks at me like she's sorry, but Stef just walks back into the kitchen, telling Jesus and Jude that they have to walk to school.

"Are you alright?" Lena asks, and I sigh again.

"I'm grand," I tell her, shaking my head. "You know, you two are fighting enough to drive them out of the house. You guys never fight in front of us."

"Maybe you would like to reason with Stef?" Lena asks, looking up at me. "You know how she is when it comes to something like this."

"I know," I say, lowering my voice as Jesus and Jude walk out of the kitchen. "But it's never this bad between you guys. I mean, Mariana was crying last night. Going on how she thinks her fault and everything. It was bad, Lena."

Lena starts to say something, but she gets cut off by an angry Stef. "Care to discuss this with me?" She asks, her hand gripping her coffee cup tightly, her mouth pressed into a thin line. Her cold stare going right through me.

Before I even think through what I was even going to say to her, I just blurt it out. "You need to stop fighting, alright?" She starts to say something, but I cut her off. "No, look. I get it you're mad at me. I understand that. But fighting about it to the point where it makes Mariana leaving? She was crying last night about it, Stef. At least I'm taking responsibility for it, right? I'm not leaving Callie alone, am I?"

Stef looks at me in shock, then looks at her feet. "That's the thing, B. You're so young and you're so kind. Most kids this age would think about getting an abortion. Maybe you two should think about getting one."

This time, it's my turn to stare at her in shock. There was no way I would even think about doing that. I'm shaking my head. "No. No. I'm not gonna do that," I tell her, still not over my shock, my voice rising. She wants me to kill a kid. "Callie wouldn't do that! She's not gonna murder somebody! We wouldn't do that! "

Mariana comes in, the door flying open, only to see us yelling at each other. "I- uh, I gotta get ready for school." She pushes past us and goes up stairs.

"Yeah," I say, ignoring the awkward silence between me and Stef, Lena staring at us like we're crazy. And maybe we are. "I should get to work. I don't wanna be late."

I slam the door in Stef's face when she tries to apologize, and I brush it off. My anger only grows, and my hands ball into fists. I should've just go to work, then go home to Callie. Then she doesn't have to be alone, with Ellie at least. I think about calling Justin, but I just get into my car, and turn the radio on, turning the music up all the way.

It seems to help, but not much. I shake my head, trying to clear my head. Stef would never think about something like that, right? At least that's what I thought. Lena was the more gentle one, but I know that Stef would never think about killing somebody. Sure, what she said was true, but I never thought that she'd say that Callie and I should do it. An fucking abortion.

Justin makes a note of my anger when I slam the door shut behind me. "What happened this time, kid?"

I just look at him, running my fingers through my hair, debating myself if I should tell him. I sigh, and give up in not telling him. "My mother is crazy!" I tell him, not hiding my anger.

"You wanna go home?"

"An abortion! A fucking abortion, Justin! She wants me and Callie to kill him! A baby that wouldn't even be born!" That's when I realize that I'm crying, like an idiot. Who would even think about doing something like that?Who even came up with something so horrible? Who cares if you don't want it? It's better to put it up for adopting instead of killing it.

"Isn't it too late to get one, son?" Justin asks, handing me a cup of water.

"I don't know. Callie is only 18 weeks. I guess?"

"You know, my wife wanted to get one," I look at him, only feeling worse. This isn't helping. "Not because she didn't want it," He says, comforting me. "It was because she was scared. If it weren't me begging for a kid like a three year old begging for a lolly pop, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even have a daughter. Most people don't do it because they don't want a kid, Brandon. They do it because they're scared."

"How many kids do you even have?" I ask, taking a deep breath to calm myself down.

"Four. I would've have five," He says, his voice getting even softer, if possible. "He was a stillborn. Doctors didn't get to help him fast enough."

"I- I'm sorry." I mumble, not sure of what else to say. But I have a feeling that Justin doesn't care anymore. The look in his eyes tell me otherwise.

"Well, it's been over 15 years," He tells me, tapping the counter lightly. "But some things you just don't get over. No matter how long it's been. You just learn how to deal with it, ya know?"

That's when it crosses my mind that Callie is scared enough to do it. To get an abortion.

I only nod, hating the thought that just crossed my mind, and he smiles. "Do you think you'll be okay by yourself today?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," I tell him, almost wanting him to leave again. I feel like it's a way to make it up to him for missing almost a month of work. "I'll just take over for you." I tell him which only causes him to smile before he walks out, leaving me alone.

I'm alone for most of the day, a few people come by to pick up something they order but besides that, I'm just sitting at the piano in the extra room, playing anything that comes to my mind. But for the most part, it's the song I wrote for Callie.

"That's amazing," A quiet voice tells me when I finish playing it, causing me to jump, and I see the girl from yesterday. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"I uh, no it's fine. You were just quiet. So, uh, how's your eye?" I ask, not sure of what else to say. Or do.

"It's doing better," She tells me, leaning against the doorframe. "I just wanted to thank you for yesterday."

"No, it's fine. I actually wouldn't haven't even see you if it weren't for my son."

She looks at me confused, but I know she knows that I'm talking about Ethan. "Your son? He looks nothing like you."

"He's adopted," I tell her simply. "Anyways, my name is Brandon."

"It's nice to meet you, Brandon. My name is Lydia."

"Like the girl from Teen Wolf?" I ask stupidly, causing her to laugh.

"Yeah, like the one from Teen Wolf. I'm not as cool, but still. The name counts."

I manage to smile. "Yeah," I say quietly. "Yeah, I guess."

Lydia seems to notice my mood, and she sits down next to me, "Play." She tells me, as if she expects it to make myself feel better.

"I,uh, what do you want me to play?" I ask.

"Anything. I don't know how to play, but I know you can so... Play."

I sigh, and begin to play again, but this time I play a different song. And by the time I'm done, Lydia is staring at me. "That was amazing. Again." She says, running her fingers against the keys.

"Here," I say, taking her warm hand in mine. "I'll teach you, okay?"

"No, it's okay... You don't have to." Lydia tells me, but I'm already playing the notes again.

"First things first. You gotta learn the notes," I tap a key closest to her. "That's E."

"Okay, but Brandon, I'm serious. You don't have to teach me, not just because I want to learn."

"Why not?"

"Because then I would have to make it up to you. Like a favor."

"Oh, come on, I don't care."

"But first you let me stay in your store... and now you're willing to teach me how to play a piano?"

"Well, yeah! I have nothing else to do."

"So you just make up to it by being nice to people?"

"Uh... Most people." I tell her, rubbing my neck.

"I don't believe it. Name one person you aren't nice to."

"Uh, my mother?"

She looks at me confused.

"It's complicated, you know. We've just been fighting lately. Just a phase, I guess." I tell her, my hand falling to my side. I almost expect her to say something, but instead her lips are on mine quickly. I don't do anything. I just sit there and let her kiss me.

Then she pulls away, looking away from me.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You have a girlfriend, right? And your son. You adopted him... I'm sorry. I'm just gonna leave now."

"Hey," I murmur, forcing her to look at me, her eyes meeting mine. "It's okay." And this time, I kiss her.

I have never regretted something so much in my entire life. She's right, I have Callie and Ethan. And Ellie. I shouldn't even have let her sit next to me. I should've came up with an excuse. Like to pick up Ethan from school.

I pull away, shaking my head. "I'm so sorry!" I say, grabbing my phone. "You're right. I shouldn't be doing this! I gotta go, I have to go pick him up from school. I'm so sorry, I don't know what I was thinking."

Lydia nods, "Yeah, I should probably get going. My brother is probably wondering where I am."

It's awkward as both of us get up, while I'm reaching for the keys to the store, she's already gone, and I sigh. It's like Friday the 13th.

I manage to get to Anchor Beach soon enough to pick Ethan up without being suck in traffic. "How was school, bud?" I ask, and Ethan shrugs.

"Okay, I guess."

"Are you feeling okay? You seem off."

"I'm fine."

I don't push him any farther, and by the time I get home, I'm ready to crack and tell Callie what happened. Everything. I don't want her to find out by somebody else, that would be bad.

I tap my leg nervously as I walk in, slowly going if after Ethan, who sits at the table next to Ellie, starting on his homework, Callie at the counter.

"Hey, how was work?" She asks, looking up from the book she was reading.

"It was... good, I guess. Look, Cals, I need to talk to you. It's important." I tell her, grabbing her hand, leading her out of the kitchen.

"Are you alright?"

"No... No, not really. So you know how I went to talk to Stef this morning before I went to work right?"

"And you got into another fight?"

"Yeah, and she brought something up, and it really got me thinking, you know? But then I was thinking about you and then... ug, I don't know. Never mind."

"Brandon, come on. You can tell me."

"She brought up abortion, Callie! Said it right to me that she thinks you should get one!" I blurt out, and I wish that I can take it back, and Callie just looks at me in shock. "I left after that you know, because I didn't want to hear anything else. I mean, I didn't want to think about and I told Justin about what she said and he said that people only get one because they're scared. I started thinking about you, you know, cause you told me that you were scared."

"Brandon, calm down, okay? You're okay, right? Relax, please. You're making me worried. Breathe, alright?" Callie takes my face in her hands. "It's okay."

I nod, taking a deep breath. "I just wanted to talk to you about it, you know? I'm thought about it a lot. If you want to get one, I'm not gonna judge. Yeah, I'll be upset bu-"

"Brandon, I'm not getting one," She tells me, and I feel like it's to calm me down, but by the look in her eyes, I know she's being serious. "I would never do something like that. I never could, you know? It's just horrible. I promise you that Percy not going anywhere."

I close my eyes, resting my forehead against hers, my hand going to her stomach. "I hope not, Cals."


	7. Chapter 7

Mariana is over here again. Staring at me, and it's starting to make me uncomfortable. I'm about to ask her whats wrong, if she wants to stay the night again, to tell her to come inside, but she's shaking her head, her mouth opened slightly. "S- She said that to you?" Mariana asks, rubbing her eyes. "Is mom insane? Did she really say that you shou-"

"It's okay, Mariana," I tell her, running my fingers through my hair. "I promise. I got mad at her too. It's okay. Everything is okay."

"Did you tell Callie?" Mariana demands, throwing her hands in the air. "Is she going to get one? And you're standing here saying that it's okay that mom told you this?"

I sigh, and nod my head, only causing Mariana to look at me like I'm insane. It's not okay, I know that, but it's better to just forget about than make a big thing about it. Mariana knows that I would't want to do anything like that, and Callie wouldn't either. At least what I think, right? She hasn't said much after I told her. Callie might want to get one, even though she told me that she wouldn't get one. She's scared enough to get an abortion.

"i- uh, yeah? I guess, I mean I talked to Callie about it and she said that she didn't want to do it, so I guess we can just forget about it?" I ask. "Come on, Mariana. It's not that big of a deal, Callie already said no."

"Are you sure?" Mariana asks, shaking her head. "Because that's not what Mom told me. She said that Callie brought it up to her once, Brandon. That's the only reason why she said that."

I just stare at her blankly. Of course. I always have to be so stupid. Of course Callie wouldn't have wanted to talk to me about it. So she went to Stef. Because she knows that when Stef would agree, it'd be easier for her to do it. Callie shold get one, right? It would only make things easier for us, then we would only have to worry about Ellie and Ethan. Much easier than an baby, right?

"Brandon?" Mariana asks, pulling me out of my thoughts. She's still staring at me, concerned. "You alright? I know that's a stupid question, but I-"

"Maybe they're right, Mariana," I mutter. "Maybe she should get one."

I can tell that I surprised her, but I don't bother to try to comfort her or anything. "It's not my choice anyways, Mariana."

"I still think you should talk to Callie about it again, Brandon. I know you aren't happy about this."

"Yeah, bu-"

Mariana just pushes past me, closing the door. "We are going to talk to Callie about it, okay? How does that sound? Like a good plan?"

"Horrible. A horrible idea. You can talk to her about it. I'm not. I already did."

Mariana sighs, and grabs my arm roughly. "You are talking to her if you like it or not, Brandon. Come on, I know you don't want her to get an abortion."

"It doesn't matter if I don't want her to do it, Mariana! It's if she wants to do it! It's her choice, not mine! I'm not going to make her do something she doesn't want too!"

"Just because she's scared of something, it doesn't mean she doesn't want it, Brandon."

"Yeah, but when people are scared of something, they'll do anything to get rid of it."

That's when I notcie the tears in her eyes, and she shakes her head. "God, Brandon! I'm just trying tot help you, because you obviously want a child so bad, and you're willing to kill it just because Callie is scared?"

"Maybe I am!" Our yelling causes Callie to come check on us, Ellie hiding behind her leg.

"Whats going on?" Callie asks, a look confusion and suprise on her face. Marian and I just look at her, and I don't know what to say, and I can tell Mariana is looking for the right wordsto say. But I feel that no matter how this goes, somebody is going to end up in tears.

"Stef said that you wanted to get an abortion!" Mariana blurts, covering her mouth soon after. But she keeps speaking. "I mean, yeah, I get it that you're scared, Callie. But I know that you wouldn't want to get one. And I-"

I've been spending the last couple minutes trying to keep myself from pushing things too far, and judging by the look on Callie's face she's close to being pushed to far.

"Look, Cals there's no point in lying, okay? Get one if you want to, I don't care. I mean, he's your kid anyways, right?"

Ellie has disappeared, and I couldn't be more thankful for it. I remember what it was like when Mike and Stef fought before they got divorce and I moved in the house with Stef and Lena.

"What are you talking about? H- he's not just my kid, Brandon," Callie mumbles, shaking her head, not meeting my eyes. "He's yours too."

"Yeah, uh, sure, you want me to believe that? That didn't stop you for talking to Stef about an abortion, Callie. You could've just told me that you wanted to get one! I don't see the difference if you're gonna end up getting one in the end, so why does it matter?"

"Because then you would be upset, Brandon! You want a kid! Why would I talk to you about an abortion if you want a kid?"

"It's not if I want it, Callie! We all know I want a kid! It's not my choice, so you can stop acting like it is!"

"But it is your choic-"

"Tell me you don't want this kid," I say, lowering my voice, taking a step closer to her, and she takes a step back, her back pressed to the wall. I try not to let it bother me, and when I reach up to tuck her hair behind her ear, she flinches. So I just let my hand drop to my side, watching her as a tear falls down her face. "Tell that you're scared enough to get rid of him. Tell me you don't want him, Callie."

"I- I... Brandon, I... I don't want him. I'm not going to be good enough. We're not going to be good enough."

I look away from her, not wanting to meet her eyes. Part of me tells me she's right, and the other part is telling me that it doesn't matter, that there's a first time for everything. I can hear her talking to me, telling me to look at her, telling me that she's sorry that she can't do it. Saying that she wishes that she can give me what I want. I look over at Mariana, who watched the entire thing. But I ignore her too. Callie still trying to talk to me, and I can feel her hands on my chest or grabbing my arm.

"Brandon, please ju-"

"I'm going out," I tell Callie roughly, looking back at her, her cheeks wet with tears. "I need some air. It obviously doesn't bother you that you're killing our son."

I walk out then, leaving Callie with Mariana. I wasn't lying about needing some fresh air. I curse myself for being so emotional when I wipe away my own tears, I don't understand why it bothers me so much. Maybe it's just the fact that I won't be a real father anymore? That's a possibility. It could just be the fact that he won't be able to grow up and be able to do things with his life. He won't even have one.

I know I'm too attached to him. Even Jude came up with a middle name for him. Percy Theo Foster. To be honest, I actually like it, it makes me feel good, that I'm able to go something that my moms were able to do. Have a family.

I don't know where I'm going. Or who I'm going to I look down at my phone, silently debating if I should call her or not. Lydia, we actually exchanged numbers the day she was in the music store. Just in case for some reason I needed her or she need me again.

So I call her.

Because I feel like she'll listen to me, what I think about it. I already know what Stef will say. _It's for the best Brandon. You're too young for this anyways. _

"Hello?"

"Uh, Hi? It's Brandon. You know, the weird one who plays the piano?"

"Yeah, I know who you are. Is everything alright?"

"No, not really. Well, it depends on your definition of 'everything being alright'. And I'm looking for somebody who'll come get drunk with me and listen to me crying like a baby over the fact that my girlfriend wants to get an abortion." I say, and I can hear Lydia gasp. I want to tell her that I'm fine, and that my great plan that I just told her should work to help me get over it.

"That's not my definition of alright, Brandon."

"Okay. Besides that and me crying like a five year old, do you wanna go out with me? Hit some bars get drunk? Ya know, party all night or somethin'? Sounds like a good idea to me."

Lydia is quiet for a few minutes before she answers. "My brother went out of town this week with the only car we have. You won't mind pick me up?"

I shake my head even though she can't see me. "Yeah," I answer, checking my pocket for my keys. "Where do you live?"

* * *

Less than twenty minutes, I'm standing on her doorstep, knocking on the door, running my hands through my hair nervously. I shouldn't be here. I should be at Callie and I apartment supporting the choice she's making even it's something that I don't want. Even if it's horrible. Good people make bad choices too.

Like the one I'm making right now. But I don't think I'm a good guy like Callie is. I'm the bad guy who keeps on making all the bad choices, and none of them are ever going to be good. Just all bad. Even adopting Ellie and Ethan were a bad choice. I can't take care of them. Callie thinks she's not a mother, but she doesn't realise that she's doing all of the work. Me? I'm the horrible boyfriend that leaves them to go out and get drunk with another girl.

When Lydia opens the door, I don't expect to see her in only a towel. It's wrapped tightly around her body, and I can tell she's talking to me.

"What? Ug, sorry. I- um, it's just that I don't expect you to, uh..."

"Answer the door in a towel?"

I can only force myself to nod, looking down at my shoes. Lydia seems to notice my discomfort. "I'll be right back, I just need to get dressed and then we can leave, okay?"

"Okay." I mumble as I sit down on her couch, and she goes back upstairs, probably to her room. I look around, but there's really nothing to look at, besides the stack of boring looking papers on the coffee table in front of me. I read the first page I see. Divorce papers. A will for some guy named Austin Wheatley. I figure that it may be for Lydia's father. I push those out of the way, I feel weird looking at them. What's next surprises me the most, but I'm not sure why.

Adoption papers.

And Lydia's name is on them. I look at them closely. They aren't finalised, they might be on the way there, right? It doesn't seem like that though. It could explain why Lydia didn't look anything like her brother, he could be her foster brother.

"Uh, Brandon?"

I jump when I hear Lydia calling me from upstairs. I shouldn't be looking at her stuff. She shouldn't have to catch me looking through it. They explained enough. Her foster dad died before she got adopted.

"Y-yeah?" I shout, not wanting to do anything else that I shouldn't be doing.

Her voice sounds closer, and I assume that she is at the top of the stairs. "Can you help me?"

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. "Yeah." I call, and I walk to the bottom of the stairs, where Lydia is already walking down, and I look down at my sneakers again. I could be with Callie right now. No, I should be with her right now. I know what Lydia needs though, she needs me to zip up the back of her dress.

Her skin is cold against mine, and it only reminds me even more of Callie, and I only feel worse. "We're only going to a bar," I tell her, pushing her hair over she shoulder. "But you look nice."

"I would hope so," Lydia says, shrugging, turning around to face me, pressing her chest to mine. "Does Callie know about this?"

I don't answer her, but I grab her hand and lead her to my car. "Ready?" I ask her when I get in, starting the car.

Lydia nods, looking at me.

The bar is crowded. A lot more crowded than I thought it would be. This bar is always crowded. But tonight, it's overfilling with drunk people and people on their way there. I'm not surprised when Lydia pulls out an fake I.D, slapping it down on the counter in front of the bartender. "A double shot of crown in a coke," She looks over at me, and I shrug. "Give him three shots." The guy nods, not even bothering to check her I.D.

Lydia hands me my drink, and I can't even tell the difference. "Drink it up, Brandon." I look at her, not sure, but she's already drinking hers.

I take a sip. It only goes downhill from there.

"I mean, I don't get it," I tell Lydia, who just order even more drinks, drunkly. "Sure I get it that she's scar-"

"Drink it up!" She shouts, slamming another cup in front of me. My already alcohol filled veins make me reach for it. And take a long drink from it.

Without thinking, I push an strand of hair behind her ear, thinking about the papers I saw on the table. "I'm sorry about your adoption." I tell her, and she just looks at me.

"W-what? Who's... who's adoption?"

I look over that the bartender. "Hey you! Get me two cups of water!" I tell him, suddenly remembering that I shouldn't be here at all. I look at the time on my watch. 10:30. I have to get home. He hands me the cups of water quietly, and I hand one to Lydia.

"Drink it," I command her, not even waiting for her response. "I'm gonna take you home, alright?" Then without any warning, she throws her arms around my neck, kissing me.

She's only making this ten times harder.

"I don't wanna go home. I wanna go to your place."

I sigh, and grab her arm roughly, pushing through all of the people in my way, not even bothering to pay the guy. I manage to get her in the car, and I have to help her up the stairs to her room, and have her sit down on her bed. "You need to stay here, okay? I'm going home to my moms," I tell her, for some weird reason, I don't want to mention Callie to her. "I'll come check on you later, alright? Sound good?"

I leave her there, seeing that she was half asleep, not sure of what else to do. I don't go to Callie and mine apartment, instead I go to the beach, to clear my head. Yeah, I made a mistake, I know that. The only thing I'm worried about is telling Callie about it. Maybe she won't even care about what I have to say. Going out and wanting to drunk isn't a way to react to her choice.

I finish the cup of water that I for some reason still have, and throw it in anger, sighing as I stuff my hands in my pockets. I could go back to her, right? Tell her everything that I did. Tell her that I'm a horrible person. I bet Mariana is still there, probably because she comforted Callie.

I get back in my car and drive back to the apartment, going over what I would say to Callie._ I went off with another girl and wanted to get drunk, but I didn't get drunk. _

No way I would ever say that to Callie.

The next thing I know is that I'm already walking into our apartment, Mariana standing there, shaking her head at me. "Are you drunk? Go out to drink? Where'd you go?"

"I went out for a drink?" I tell her, but it comes out like a question, not wanting to deal with what she'll say to me.

"You're sober," Mariana says matter of factly. "Some girl save your sorry ass?"

"I actually saved the girl, for your information."

Mariana softens. "I get it that you're upset with Callie's choice. But walking out like that? Brandon, she almost had a panic attack and I had to calm her down. It was really bad, she start blaming herself for doing something so stupid. She thought that you might hurt yourself. She wanted to go after you, Brandon."

"W-where is she?" I choke out, wanting to say sorry to Callie, but I know that it won't be enough. Not after what I've been doing with Lydia.

"She's still awake if that's what you're wondering, she thinks I should go home."

"You should. Go to bed. Get some sleep, you have school tomorrow."

"If I see her tomorrow, and if there's one tear going down her face, I'm blaming you." Mariana says before she leaves.

I don't answer her, I only put the keys on the counter, running my hands through my hair, telling myself that I'm not going to cry. That I'm going to deal with Callie's choice, even if it's not what I want, I shouldn't even be making her do anything she doesn't want to. At least she told me that she doesn't want a baby. She's not going to change her mind about it.

"Brandon?" Callie's looking at me, a worried expression on her face. I want to tell her that she shouldn't be worried about me, that I'm completely fine, but that's not true. I'm a terrible liar anyways if I try to tell her I'm fine.

It doesn't help matters when I'm suddenly on my knees in front of her, ignoring the pain in my knees. I bury my face in her shirt, crying.

Crying like a moron when she should be the one crying, I walked out on her, she didn't walk out on me. But all I can think is that she's going to kill our son before he's even born.

"God, Cals... Callie I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry. I love you so much, and I- I shouldn't have left you, not just because I don't want you to get an abortion. I just want a kid so bad and I-" I wrap my arms around her, trying to comfort myself. To tell myself that I'll still have Callie.

I feel her fingers in my hair, and I'm not sure of it, but I think she's crying too. And I can't help but think of how weak I am. Crying over a baby that hasn't even been born yet. Naming him was probably horrible, I'm already attached to him. Percy Theo Foster. The name won't even matter anymore.

"Shh," I hear Callie murmur, her fingers still in my hair, and I try to calm myself down, that it shouldn't be such a big deal. But it is, it bothers me so much. "I'm sorry, Brandon. I'm so sorry."

I look up at her, only to see that her cheeks are stained with tears too. I want to wipe them away, but she beats me to it, wiping my face as well. I stand up, expecting her to tell me that we should go to bed. Forget about what happened tonight, telling that she hasn't changed her mind. And she probably never will.

"Callie, I-"

"I'm going to keep him," Callie tells me suddenly, more tears falling down her face. "You're still going to have another son, Brandon. I thought that maybe I could do it, but I just can't. I just can't. Get an abortion, I mean. I... It's just horrible. I don't know why I thought I should do su-"

"Hey," I mutter, wiping the new tears away, taking her face in my hands. "I still think you're a great person. And I'm telling you right now that we can do this, okay? I'm not going anywhere."

I expected her to say something, to start yelling at me for forgiving her so easily, that I'm an idiot. And maybe I am, but those words where the only words I needed to hear. I think about kissing her, but before I can do anything, she's the one kissing me.

I pull away from her, shaking my head. I'm worried. I'm not going to be the reason why she decided to not get an abortion. I don't want to be the only reason why she changed her mind. "You're sure about this? You want this just as much as I do? 'Cause I'm not gonna be the reason why you changed your mind."

Callie has never been a good liar either. When I first met her, I couldn't tell if she was lying or not, but she never told a lie to me, she only hid stuff. Things like Liam. But just like me, she's never been good at lying. She never meets my eyes when she does.

Callie takes in a deep breath before answering me. "I want this."

I stare at her before I get my hopes up. I stare at her, waiting for her to look away from me, but that never happens. Instead I see that she's pleading me to believe her, that she wants it just as much as I do, and it makes me smile.

Because this time, it's the complete truth.


	8. Chapter 8

The silence never ends. Nobody has the heart or the nerve to break it. But maybe it'll be easier if nobody talks, and we just all keep eating. But it's clear to everybody that it's too awkward, even Ellie doesn't say anything. Everything was fine. Until dinner. Until Mariana and Jesus stopped bickering, and Callie and Jude stopped talking about his school work.

I look over at Callie, who just sits there, playing with the food on her plate. Not in the mood to eat right now. Never know when she's gonna want to eat anything these's days. Ellie is happy enough too be eating, struggling with her knife. I'm about to start helping her when Ethan beats me to it, smiling as he realizes that I'm watching them carefully.

It surprises me when Jude is the one who starts talking, as if nothing is awkward. In fact, he seems almost happy at the fact that both of us are here. Usually, he just stares at me like I've killed somebody until Mariana or Callie distract him. "Did you guys like the middle names?" He asks, looking at me.

I nod. "Uh, yeah, we did. They were good names," I tell him, giving him a small smile, hoping that I could be on his good side. "Callie and I liked Theo for his middle name."

Jude breaks out into a huge smile, nodding. "That was our great-great grandfather's name." He tells us matter of factly, and Callie just looked at him confused.

"How'd you know that?" She asks, looking surprised that Jude even knows that, and I figured that maybe she did know that it was her great great grandfathers name. Probably why she choose it.

Jude's smile gets bigger as he just shrugs like it's no big deal, looking over at me. And for once, it's not like I just killed somebody. "I had to do a project for school, you know? It was like a family tree, and Stef and Lena thought that I should've done Donald's side of the family."

"I'm guessing that it worked out well?" I ask, hoping that maybe Stef or Lena would pipe in and start talking as well.

"Yeah, I guess," Jude answers, looking away from me, to Callie. "I didn't know much about it, so we just went online and started from there. Did you know that he was from Ireland, and that he built his own brewery there before he came to America?"

Callie shakes her head, and I let out a small laugh. "No Jude, I didn't know that. But I did know that he was from Ireland, so I'm not completely missing out on it."

That's when Mariana starts talking. "Oh, yeah! I remember that! I helped him with some of it, but he did most of it by himself and he got a good grade on it, right Jude? An B+ or something like that?" Mariana looks over at me and Callie, and I mentally prepare myself for a bunch of questions. "Are you guys going to shop for clothes soon? If you do I wanna come! Please can I? Ooo, can I help paint his room?"

"I'll do that!" Jesus exclaims, looking up from his food. "I'll do it a lot better than you would!"

Mariana just rolls her eyes at Jesus, looking back at Callie and I. "So can I help? Can we get clothes next week? We have no school then! That's perfect! Please?"

I look over at Callie, who is just staring at Mariana blankly for a few moments before she speaks. "Uh, I guess. Brandon needs a haircut, and so does Ethan, but I can do that. I have a doctor apoinme-"

"That's it! I'm coming!"

"-nt on Thursday," Callie says, like Mariana hasn't even said a word. When Mariana starts to open her mouth again, Callie just shakes her head. "I swear to god that if you ask one more question that has to do with Percy, that answer is going to be no, and I'm not letting you in with me. You'll probably faint because you'll be so happy."

"But I'm gonna be an aunt! The least I could do is help you buy clothes! Oh, and I wanna pick out the outfit he's gonna come home in!"

Callie sighs, and I laugh. "I think you're a little bit too happy about this, Mariana," I tell her, taking Callie's hand. "I would get it if was your own kid, bu-"

"I am going to be an aunt! Tell me you weren't happy when Callie told you!"

"I was happy," I tell her, remembering the night Callie told me. I just stared at her blankly until I understood what she meant. "I still am happy, Mariana. I don't obsess over him though, that's just weird. It's not like he's from one direction or something."

Mariana gives up on talking, shrugging like it really doesn't matter, and Callie holds my hand tighter as Stef looks at us. "So what's the game plan? When are you going to get stuff for him? You'll be surprised by how fast the last three months go by."

"We have a car seat from when we started taking care of Ellie, we just need to get him clothes and a crib," Callie answers, shrugging. "That's really it."

"But what about his room? I'll paint it!" Mariana says, stabbing her fork into her food almost angrily. "Can I help you guys do something?"

"Yeah," I tell her, leaning forward, resting my elbows on the table. "You can move in with us and stay up with him all night when he cries, until he's sleeps all night, deal?"

Mariana wrinkles her nose, and shakes her head, "No, anything but that. Please?"

Callie and I laugh at her answer, and I look over at Lena has a small smile on her face. "You know," Lena says, surprising Callie and I when she talks. "If you ever want too, some nights we can just watch all of them for you, and you can get a little bit of peace. I doubt you'll be getting any soon."

"I can dream, I mean, some nights, it takes Ellie forever to go to bed." I say, running my hands through my hair, pushing my hair out of my eyes, only for it to fall back in my face.

"Callie is right, you do need a hair cut," Lena says, pushing it out of my eyes. "Desperately, B. When was the last time you even got one?"

"I don't know," I mutter shrugging. "I'll go out and get one next week or something."

"And you'll never do it," Mariana pipes back in. "And to be honest, you need to shave too."

"Whatever," I grumble, running my fingers through my hair again, tugging at the ends. "I've been too busy for that. It takes forever."

"Back to the baby!" Mariana says happily, not bothering to reason with me anymore. "What about his room? Are you guys going to even paint it?"

"No," I answer, hoping it would be a way to get her to shut up. But being Mariana, my response only makes her talk even more, talking about what color it should be, saying something about paying for the paint. "The apartment is to small for him to even have his own room, he's going to sleep in our room."

"Well... Then I can paint your room!" Mariana says, and Jude smiles at her, shaking his head.

"I highly doubt that they would let you."

Mariana just looks at Callie and I. "Please? It'll look good, I promise. Please? Just a simple blue or something. Jude can help! He'll make sure that it looks good!"

"The answer is still no." I say, brushing it off. We don't need to paint our room for him. It's not like he'll even remember it.

"Percy is going to have his own room," Callie tells Mariana, looking up at me, and I just groan. "Brandon just doesn't like you anymore. I think that you can paint his room with Jude. And Jesus. If he wants too."

"But then the house is gonna smell weird," I whine, looking over at Callie, she knows she's going to have to pay for this later. "I'm staying here when you do it then."

"We'll just air out the house! Duh."

"Good luck handling the dog, then. He's huge now."

I get Ellie's and Ethan's attention. "What about Ozzy?" Ellie asks, looking at me with a look of shock on her face.

"I just said he's getting big, right?"

"Yeah! He's almost bigger than me now!"

I look over at Stef, who has a small smile on her face now, and I feel a little bit more relaxed. "Jesus, Mariana. It's your turn to do the dishes," Lena says, then looks at Ellie and Ethan. "Do you guys want some ice cream for dessert?"

Mariana and Jesus both groan, but they don't say anything as they start to clean up the table, and Ethan and Ellie say something about wanting to watch a movie instead of having Ice cream, which only makes things easier for Callie and I.

I take Callie's hand again, and lead her upstart to my room. Well, Jesus' room, but he still hasn't finished moving all of his stuff in here. Callie sits on the bed, quite for a few minutes while I dig around in the drawers for a cleaner shirt. After a few minutes, I finally find one.

"I don't get why you won't let Mariana paint his room. It's just less work for both of us." Callie says, and I don't respond at first. It is less work. But at the same time I would have to deal with a mess and an overly happy Mariana for a few hours.

"Yeah," I answer, pulling my shirt over my head, shrugging. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to have her do it, right? Jude can help if he wants too."

"I think you should help too," Callie says as I lay down next to her. "It wouldn't kill you if you spent some time with them."

"Okay."

"That's it? Just an okay?" Callie asks, and I can tell she's surprised. "I thought that you'd complain even more. I-" She stops abruptly, and I look up at her.

"Callie, you alright?" I ask, sitting up. "Do you need anything? A drink or something?"

Callie just looks at me, and shakes her head. "No, I'm fine. It's just that... Nevermind."

Her words only have me worrying about her even more, but I decide not to push on it. Callie only tells people what she wants them to know. I watch her carefully, knowing that it's really the only thing I can do, and if I ask her, she'll just say that she's fine. I don't pay much attention to what she's saying.

"Brandon?"

"Yeah? Are you sure you're okay?" I ask, hoping that maybe she would want to tell me what's bothering her.

Callie just looks at me. "Did you feel that?"

My protective instincts kick in, and I'm suddenly on my feet. "What? You're sure you're okay? Is the baby okay? Does it hurt or someth-"

Callie cuts me off, taking my hand. "I'm fine!" She shakes her head, probably at my instincts, and puts my hand on her stomach. "You don't feel that?"

I just stare at her blankly for a few seconds. "Feel what?" I ask, confused. "Am I supposed to feel someth-" I stop talking, and I look at my hand in her stomach. "Was that him?"

Callie just nods, and I get happier by the moment. Maybe as happy as Mariana, and I pick Callie up, who wraps her arms around my neck, letting out a shout of surprise. "God, Brandon!"

I ignore her and kick the door open. "Moms!" I shout, and I can tell that Callie just rolls her eyes at me. "Moms, you gotta come here!" Stef and Lena are at the bottom of the stairs, everybody else behind them. I probably scared them, shouting for them like that but they look relived when they see Callie.

"Is everything alright?" Lena asks, and I just nod my head like a moron.

"The baby! He kicked!" I shout, and Stef and Lena smile.

"We thought that something else happened, B. Try not to scream like that again, okay?"

I don't respond as I put Callie down, and everybody is around her suddenly, wanting to feel Percy move. I'm surprised when Stef doesn't seem to be angry at the fact that Callie and I are going to keep him.

"You know what, B?" Stef asks me quietly, watching everybody else talking to Callie, amazed.

"What?" I ask, thinking that maybe she's going to say something about the baby, if it's something good or not. Hopefully, it's something good.

A small smile finds it's way on her face, and she looks up at me, making me uncomfortable. "You are an amazing father."


	9. Chapter 9

I groan as I hear the knock on our door, and I run my fingers through my now short hair, thanks to Callie. "Do they have to come today?" I ask, slowly making my way to the door, not wanting to answer it.

"Yes, they do! It's just less work for you, I don't get why you're complaining! Besides, we hardly see them anymore, B. Lighten up, please?" Callie head pokes out from the corner to the kitchen. "I need to finish giving Ethan his hair cut, then I'll keep you company, okay?"

I groan again. "Mari basically lives here now, and you think that we hardly see them?"

"Then kick her out and have Jesus and Jude do the work!" Callie calls, but I'm already opening the door, only to be greeted by Mariana's happy squealing.

"We're gonna paint his room, Judicorn! Aren't you happy that you finally have something to do over break? You were complaining that you had nothing to do, and now you do!"

"Would you like to come in?" I ask, and Jude and Jesus look relived, and they nod, carrying in the cans of paint as Mariana just looks at me, a smile on her face.

"The paint was on sale so moms bought it, so here's the money you gave me to buy it."

I rub the back of my neck, and sigh. "You can keep it, okay?" I tell her, and I want to take it back, but we don't really need it. Callie and I put aside extra money for the clothes, and whatever Mariana would want to get for him.

Mariana looks surprised, and I wish that she'll go back to her normal hair. I just won't ever get used to it being blonde. "Are you sure? I mean, you don't need it fo-"

"We'll manage, besides, the stores been pretty busy this week, I'm lucky that I even got two days off." I tell her, and she just sighs.

"I hate how much you work these days, B. I know that I'm here almost everyday, but I feel like a barely see you."

"Just keep the money, and let's get this thing over with, alright? And all of you can stay over for dinner if Stef and Lena are okay with it."

Mariana doesn't answer right away, thinking it through, and she's right. Everyday, I've grown used to see her waiting when I come home, but she always have to leave soon after. I do feel like I barely see her. And the rest of them, Jesus and Jude, I see them a lot less than I see Mariana. Callie's right. It would be nice to spend some quality time with them, Callie and I would be too busy with Percy soon enough.

"That's fine with me!" She says happily, and I can't help but smile as I follow her back to the kitchen, where Jesus and Jude are, making sandwiches, and Mariana just shakes her head at them. "Guys, we literally just ate lunch."

"And we need the food to grow." Jesus says, with no doubt starts to make his second sandwich as Jude nods in agreement.

"Well, if we want to get done with the room before dinner, we need to start in a few minutes." Jesus grumbles something that I can't hear, and Jude just shrugs, turning his attention back to the food.

I go to the living room, where Ellie is looking through her book sadly. "What's wrong, baby?" I ask, getting her attention, and she just looks at me. "You don't like the book?"

Ellie shakes her head, shrugging. "I'm not smart enough."

"What?" I ask, confused, pulling her into my lap.

"I don't know how to do the things in the book. I'm not smart enough."

"Hey! You can do this, I know you can! I've seen do this. Where's your pencil?"

Ellie hands me her pencil, shoving the book into my hands. "Okay, Ellie, you remember the numbers, right?" Ellie only nods, and I sigh. "It says here to add the numbers up, you can do that, right? Do it for me."

Ellie takes the pencil from me, and does the problems on the page. After looking over them, I smile. "You got them all right! And you think that you aren't smart? You're a genius! Ready for some reading?" I ask, flipping the page to simple words.

Ellie stare at the words blankly for a few minutes before looking to me for help. "Okay, what letter is this?" I ask, pointing at the C.

"C."

"Okay, good job. What about this one?"

"I don't know."

I sigh, and hand her the pencil again. "Can you write your name for me?" Ellie nods, and when she's done, I look at it. It looks completely fine, if you ignore her backwards E's. "Do you know how to write my name?"

I can barely read my name on the page she wrote it on. I guess she had the idea of how to spell it, she only got the b and the d mixed up, and the a is backwards. Again.

Ellie is watching me, and I just look at her before flipping to the page with the entire alphabet, and ask her to read the letters to me.

"A, D, C, B-"

"Okay that's enough for today, don't you think?" I ask, knowing that I'm gonna have to tell Callie. "Why don't you get a coloring book?"

Ellie disappears, and then Mariana is calling for me, telling me that it's time to start helping them. I get up, and go to Percy's room, only too see a mess already. They remembered to put down newspaper. (which was Mariana's idea.) The window wide open, and Jesus is trying to open another can of paint, Jude picking up the one on it's side.

"That's it, I'm done." I say, and they all look up at me.

"That wasn't my fault!" Jesus says, gesturing to the spilled paint. "That was Mariana! Don't blame me!"

I roll my eyes at him, ignoring the fact that Mariana and Jesus started bickering. "See, Jude, this is why I like you the most," I tell him, and he just smiles. "You're way cooler than them."

"Hey! I paid for the paint!" Jesus says, looking at us.

"No you didn't, Moms did, dumbass!"

Jude and I laugh. "Yeah, I like myself the best too," Jude says, handing me a paint brush. "I don't have a twin that I fight with all the time."

"We aren't fighting!" Mariana says, shaking her head. "We're talking like normal people an- Jesus did you open it yet?"

Jesus smiles, and holds up the can of paint proudly. "Of course I did! I didn't waste thirty minutes to not open it!"

Mariana just shakes her head, and takes it from him, handing it to Jude. Jude just looks up at me, then at the paint. "If we finish painting today, we get to stay for dinner, right?"

I shrug, telling myself that I won't be that bad if they stay over for dinner. "If you want too." I tell Jude, but he's already talking to Mariana, something about how to paint the wall.

The color looks better than I thought it would, considering that it was chosen by Jesus. It was actually doing pretty good until Ozzy comes running to the room, knocking over one of the cans of paint, causing Jesus to trip into it. Ozzy books it for the door when he hears Jesus fall.

The three of us laugh, not even bothering to help him up as he just shakes his head at us, grumbling something about never painting a room again. He sends us a glare when we're still laughing, and suddenly, what's left of the paint is poured over my head.

"Jesus!" They're all laughing again, and I can't help but smile. "You can buy me new clothes."

"He looks like a giant smurf," Mariana whispers, looking at me. "Or like a blue hulk, doesn't he Jude?"

"More like a smurf. Brandon hardly gets angry."

I ignore them and wipe some of the paint off of my face, only getting it on my hands. "Hey Callie? Come here and see how the room looks!" I call, wiping one of my hands on the front of Jude's shirt.

"Oh, it's on!" Jude says, managing to get some of the paint off his shirt.

"Get Mariana, she's completely clean."

"I'm wearing white!"

"That didn't stop Jesus from dumping the entire bucket on me," I tell her, shrugging. "Now I have a blue shirt."

"Well, unlike you I actually lik-" Jude draws a line across her cheek, and Callie comes in.

"What the hell happened in here?"

"It was the dogs fault!" Jesus says, holding his hands up in defense. "I tripped over him and it- ugh, it just went downhill there!"

"So you turned Brandon into a smurf?"

"Basically. On the bright side, he now has a blue shirt, so you're welcome. Now you don't have to go out and buy him more clothes."

Callie just smiles at Jesus response. "Thank you. And I hope you have fun cleaning up this mess, Jesus. Or I'm not cooking you dinner."

Callie turns around to leave, but I grab her wrist, pulling her towards me. She starts to say something, but I just tap her nose, leaving a blue dot. "You need to go take a shower. And put those clothes in the wash."

"I'll do it late-"

Mariana cuts me off, causing Callie and I to groan. "Are we still going shopping tomorrow?" She asks, ignoring the fact that Jude had just drawn on her shirt.

I look down at Callie, who just shrugs. "Yeah. I guess. Why?"

Mariana just shrugs, and looks around the room. "Do you think it looks good?"

The room actually did look pretty good, considering that we wasted more than half of the paint we needed to use just now. "For between the four of you?" Callie says, looking at us, then at the walls. "I'd say that it looks good."

Jesus smiles proudly, clapping his hands together. "See, I told you it would look good!" He directs towards Mariana before looking back at us. "What's for dinner?"

"I ordered pizza." Callie says, and Jesus racing out of the room.

"When is it gonna be here?" He calls, and all of us laugh at him.

Jude smiles, "What type is it?" He asks, and Callie just shrugs.

"Meatball, that's your favorite, right?"

Mariana and Jude run out of the room when there's a knock on the door.

Zac and I look over at each other, then sigh, looking back at Callie and Mariana.

"I think we have crazy girlfriends." Zac says quietly, crossing his arms, and I nod in agreement. Callie was never one to shop for clothes. It surprises me how happy she is shopping with Mariana for Percy.

"I think we do, too," I tell him, running my fingers through my hair. "But at least Callie got away from Ethan and Ellie for a while."

Zac looks at me confused, and I sigh, not really in the mood to explain to him who they are. "They're our son and daughter," I explain, expecting him to look at me like I'm crazy, but he just gives me a small smile. "We adopted them a while back. I've been working more lately, so Callie's been stuck with them."

He nods. "So how old are they?"

"Uh, Ethan is almost ten, and Ellie is three, but she's really smart, so sometimes I forget."

He just laughs, shaking his head. "I bet they're tough, and now that you have a dog, right?"

"Yeah, but they behave really well, so it's not that bad. We just have bad days sometimes. Ellie is working on her letters, but that hasn't been working very well lately."

"Dyslexia?" He asks, and I shove my hands into my pockets to keep them warm.

"We actually don't know, but I'm pretty sure it is. I haven't told Callie 'bout it yet; she has enough things to worry about. She was doing good with the letter and reading some things until a few days ago."

"It's frustrating, dyslexia I mean. But I heard it's different for everybody else. Like for me, sometimes the words tangle together. Or some of the letters are backwards, but I've gotten used to it."

I nod silently, I didn't think Zac would be somebody who had dyslexia, he's mentioned something about taking college courses. Which is pretty smart. Sometimes when Callie and I have enough time, we look into it.

Mariana squeals, and I'm pulled out of my thoughts. "Are you two done?" I ask, and Mariana just looks at me.

"Done? We just got here!"

"We've been here for two hours!" I tell her, looking at the time. "I think that's more than enough time, and besides, look at all of the clothes you've already chose. Percy can only wear one outfit at a time, Mariana."

Mariana ignores me, putting another small pile onto of the huge pile in the cart we got. "Better to safe than sorry, trust me."

I sigh and run my fingers through my hair. "Okay, let's get away from the clothes and get some other stuff we need to get for him. Sound like a good idea?"

Mariana groans, but gives up at looking for more clothes. "What else do you even need to get him?"

I rub the back of my neck awkwardly. "We need a crib, and I'm pretty sure that's it, because we have a car seat from Ellie."

"What about toys?" Mariana asks, the smile slipping back onto her face, looking over at Callie who only shrugs, and Zac and I groan. "Fine! We'll do that a different day, okay?"

Mariana grumbles to herself on the way to the cashier, and when the poor guy working finally swiped all of the clothes, it reaches over two hundred dollars.

"Damn, Mariana how much stuff did you even get?" I ask, and Zac just laughs, taking out his credit card. "Woah, man what are you doing?"

"I'm paying for it?"

"Why? I have money right here."

"It's my dad's credit card, trust me he won't even miss two hundred dollars."

"You're positive about this?"

Zac nods, and before I can say anything he swipes the card. "I'd take her to the doctor just to make sure that it is dyslexia."

I nod quietly, and we're out of the store faster than I thought we would be, and I take Callie's hand. "We are done for the day, right?"

"Yeah. I'm tired." Callie says quietly.

"Good, I'll take Ellie out, and you can stay with Ethan, he's never been very loud."

"That's fine with me."

I get in the car quietly, not sure of what else too say.

I look over at Ellie, who for once is sitting still, aside from her tapping her foot nervously. "You alright?"

"There's something wrong with me, isn't there?" She asks, and I'm a taken back her question. She seems understand why we're even sitting in a waiting room.

"No, there's not, Ellie. It's just so you can read again, okay? It's just to help."

She only nods, and I'm still surprised by how quite she is, she's never this quite. Besides from when she's asleep. "Ellie Foster?" The doctor asks, causing me too jump, not even knowing he was there.

"Yeah, she's here." I say, standing up and taking she small hand in mine.

The doctor gives her a small kind smile. "I'm Doctor Phillip. Just call me Phillip, okay?"

Ellie nods, and he looks at me. "Trouble with reading?" He asks, and I nod.

"Yeah, she was doing fine for awhile until a few days ago."

"She's kinda young to be reading."

"I know," I say, running my fingers through my hair. "But when I adopted her and her brother, he was always reading to her. She knew most of the letters, so I just figured it be easier to start teaching her then."

Phillip nods, and sighs softly. "So dyslexia?" He asks, looking at her. "What makes you think that?"

I pull out the piece of paper in my pocket, and hand it too him, and he just looks over it carefully. "Backward letters, b and d are switched. That's actually quite common in kids with dyslexia. For now, I would just keep having her read, see if things change. It's a possibility that she's not completely comfortable with the letters."

I nod, and Ellie looks up at me. "Can we go get ice cream?"


	10. Chapter 10

It surprises me how well Stef and Ellie get along when half of the time, Stef is mad at my choices of adopting her or anything else Ellie has affected. I thought that maybe Stef would try to come up with excuses and reasons why not to talk or be near Ellie, but Stef seems to love her.

It's just too weird for me to see Stef smiling happily at Ellie while she giggles about something, or how carefully Stef watches her when she plays outside, hoping that she wouldn't get hurt. I guess it makes up for Stef getting angry at me. Not really angry with me, but upset with my choices. But I think that's different, when you're not exactly mad at a person but their choices.

Then there's Lena, who gets along with Ethan, she's always been the type of person to see both sides of the situation. Lena always seems calm around Ethan and Ellie, and I don't understand how she could be.

Callie seems to notice me watching them carefully, because she takes my hand, lacing her cold fingers through mine. "They're okay," I hear her mumble, but I can tell she says it more to comfort herself than me. "Nothing's gonna hurt them."

I nod, but I can't stop watching them carefully. I feel like if that they get hurt, no matter how stupid it is, like a scrape, it'll be my fault. And ever since Callie became eight months pregnant, everybody's been making up reasons why to be around her. The doctor says that Percy should be born around June 19th. On top of that, Ethan has been acting strange for the past few weeks. "I know," I say, gripping her hand tighter, finally able to look away from Ellie and Ethan. "I know, but someday something will."

Callie's brown eyes meet mine, and she's looking at me in such away that I want to kiss her. "We don't have to worry about that now. It could be years from now."

Callie makes it sound like she knows exactly what she's talking about, like she knows what's going to hurt them someday. "I just don't want them to grow up," I mumble, kissing her temple. "I know that they aren't our real children and that it seems so stupid, but I ju-"

"Hey, I get it. I don't want them to grow up either. At least not this fast. Remember what it was like when we first started taking care of them?"

"Yeah, I didn't know what the hell I was doing half of the time, so I guess it really doesn't count. It was fun though, expect for the time that Ellie ended up in the hospital."

I feel Callie tense up next to me, and I mentally curse myself for saying that, of course it was a bad time. Why would I be stupid enough to bring it up? "Yeah," Callie says quietly, her body slowly relaxing."That was pretty bad, huh? At least it's over now."

I nod, and look at the time on my watch. 8:45. It's getting late, even for Callie these days. I'm actually surprised she's still awake. "It's getting late, we should be heading home."

Stef looks up at me, and Ellie pouts. "Why don't you guys stay the night? You can have your room back for one night, and Ethan and Ellie can sleep in the basement."

I run my fingers through my hair. "Uh, I... You're sure about this? I have work tomorrow, so Cal-"

"It's fine, B. Besides, we're closer to the hospital if anything happens while you're at work."

I give in, partially because I'm tired, and because Stef does have a point. "Okay, then you can try putting Ellie to bed tonight."

Stef just laughs and smiles. "Just go to bed. Both of you." She says, looking at Callie, who looks like she can fall asleep any second, and she nods quietly.

I lead Callie to my old room, and I sit on the edge of the bed while she climbs in underneath the covers. "Will you play for me?" Callie asks quietly, and at first I'm confused by her question, then I nod.

I smile at her softly before I nod my head in response, and sit at the keyboard that is still in the corner of the room. I sit there for a few seconds, thinking about what I could play. I know Callie is watching me, so I start to play. Maybe she won't recognize it, it's been such a long time since I played it.

I can tell that Callie smiles, and I know that she remembers the song. Some of it's new, but for the most part it's the same. I don't know how long I sit there, playing. Eventually, I look over at Callie, who is asleep.

I smile to myself, and climb into bed next to her. I feel Callie move closer to me, her head resting on my chest. "I don't deserve you." I hear her mumble.

I want to tell her that if anything, I'm the one who doesn't deserve her, but she's already asleep.

* * *

"How'd you sleep, B?" Stef asks as I walk into the kitchen.

I shrug as I go through the fridge, still not exactly sure of what I am looking for. "Fine, I guess."

"Callie still asleep?"

I only nod as I grab a bowl and the box of Cheerios. "Yup, she is."

"And you need to leave for work this early in the morning?" She asks, stirring her coffee, and I nod, looking at her uniform.

"You going to work today too?"

Stef shrugs. "It's only for a few hours. Nothing major, I should be back by noon."

There's a pair of footsteps, and I know it's Callie. Nobody else would bother getting up this early in the morning unless it was for school.

"Sleep well, hun?" Stef asks, and Callie just looks at me.

"His son found my rib cage last night, so I was up half the time while he was asleep."

Stef just laughs as I look at Callie, confused. "Y-you could've woken me up!" I say, trying to defend myself. "I mean, how was I supposed to know?"

Callie just shrugs as she sits down, taking the box of Cheerios from me. "I was letting you catch up on your sleep, because you won't be getting any anytime soon."

"Okay," I say, looking at the time. 7:50. "Oh, shit! I'm gonna be late! I gotta go," I kiss Callie on the cheek before I wave to Stef quickly. "I'll see you guys when I get home."

* * *

"You're late," Is the first thing Justin says to me, a small smile on his face as he looks at the time. "A minute late, and you're afraid that you'll lose your job?"

I take a deep breath and nod, causing him to chuckle, probably at the fact that I started ranting the moment I walked inside, explaining why I was late. Or trying too. "Why would I fire you if you're one minute late?"

"Because I should've been one time!" I say, running my hands through my hair stressfully.

"When was the last time you slept?"

"Last night, why?"

Justin just sighs. "You seem like you haven't been sleeping enough."

"I'm fine! I was late, and I was up early enough to be here on time, and Ethan has been acting weird, and he won't say anything and it's just bugging the hell out of me. I feel like that I should've stayed home with Callie today, and I-"

"Need to catch up on your sleep, that's exactly want you need."

I shake my head. "No I'm fine, I feel like I should be with Callie today. That's all. And with Ethan and Ellie."

"Speaking of Callie, how is she?"

"Good. Percy's supposed to be here by next week, and somebody is with her no matter what, just in case anything happens."

Justin nods, running his fingers through his beard. "How 'bout you take off the entire week next week?"

"What? W-why? The entire week? That's too much, I'm gonna have to come here at least twice next week, Justin, I'm still trying to make up for hardly being here for almost a month. Just let me work two days, Justin." It seemed ridiculous that I was begging him for more time next week when he was offering me to take off the entire week, but I can't just take the offer from him like this. Not just automatically take it, not matter how much I want too.

"Look, kid, you literally became a father at seventeen with Ethan and Ellie, and I'm not judging you for that what I'm saying is that your having another kid coming soon, and his isn't gonna be like Ethan and Ellie. You're actually going to have to spend some time with him, okay? So you're taking the entire week off, got it?"

I nod quietly, running my fingers through my hair again. "How old were you when you got married?" I blurt, and he looks at me, showing shock at my sudden question.

"Twenty," He answers simply, and I nod. Then he looks at me again. "Why?" He adds, and I sigh.

"I heard my moms talking about it earlier," I say, shrugging. "They were talking about Callie and I."

"How'd that end up?"

"Okay, I guess. I wasn't really part of the conversation. But at least one of my moms is faithful in Callie's and I relationship."

Justin just shakes his head. "If I didn't know you two we're dating, I'd think you guys were married," He says, shrugging. "There's not much of a difference. Besides from the fact that you have to pay people to break up. Waste, trust me. My brother got divorce."

I only nod quietly, thinking over it. The last time Callie and I got into a fight, I'm lucky I did think things through or I would've said something stupid, which would have probably ended up in a break up. But that was three months ago, and there's no way we can turn back now. But before that, our first real fight, that was completely stupid. I could get her a ring, right? Just in case someday I work up enough courage to even ask her to marry me, or at least get her an promise ring.

"Uh-oh," I hear Justin say, and I look at him confused. "You've got that look. You're deep in thought look. You aren't seriously thinking about getting a ring and proposing to her, are you?"

"Just a promise ring," I mumble, looking at him. "Think that would scare her?"

"Son, I'm pretty sure that she would freak out even if it was a promise ring, and you have the kids, don't think right now would be a good time."

"Not now, later. When Percy is older, I'm not that stupid."

"Didn't say you were, son. Just think this through more when Percy is bigger, okay?"

I nod, and rush hour begins.

The store is so crowded that I barely hear my phone over all of the noise. I'm guess that I'm lucky that half of these people already preordered something and that Justin son from college came in to visit, or I wouldn't have been able to leave.

"Hello?" I ask, not even bothering it look and see who it is.

"Uh, Brandon?" I can tell Mariana is nervous, and I can hear Jesus yelling at her, saying something about shutting up so he can focus on the road. Why the hell would Jesus be the one driving.

"Yeah?"

"Moms are taking Callie to the hospital. They said to call you. Jude and Jesus are with me, and moms well, they freaked out and they didn't want Ethan and Ellie to see..."

"I'll be in the hospital in ten minutes." I say, hanging up and leave the cash register, and somebody starts yelling.

"Justin!" He looks at me, and small smile on his face, probably from the young kid he was talking to. "I gotta go," I say quickly. "Like right now, Callie, sh-"

"Don't waste your time tell me, son. Go already!"

When I get to the car, Mariana is calling me again. "Uh, B? Moms just got to the hospital, and they got there to late to give Callie any painkillers of something like that, and Callie's asking for you."

"Uh, I haven't even gotten in the car yet..."

"Brandon! I told moms that you would be here soon and ugh! Just get your lazy ass in the car, for god sake Callie is in the hospital with your child on the way!"

"I'm in the car now! God, relax! I'll be there soon, I promise!" I was about to hang up, but Mariana stops me.

"Brandon, I swear to god, don't hang up until you get to the hospital!"

"I'm on my way!" I feel ridiculous for yelling at Mariana through my phone, but at the same time, I feel like it's necessary too. "How's Callie?"

"I- uh, She's still asking for you, hurry up!"

"Do you want me to get pulled over?" I ask, suddenly more nervous, I knew I should have stayed home today, I could already be at the hospital for Callie, but I'm stuck in the middle of the road, going as fast as I can without getting pulled over.

I hear Mariana sigh through the phone as Jesus says something to her. "Jesus says that you should forget about getting here on ti-"

"I just pulled into the parking lot, Mariana."

"Okay, just tell the person at the desk that you need to see Callie. I think moms said that she's Callie Jacobs."

I hang up, and slam the car door shut. Of course the day I go to work, it's the day everybody starts freaking out and rushing to the hospital. The lady at the desk just looks up at me lazily, popping her bubble of gum. "Yes?"

"I'm here to see Callie Jacobs."

She just looks at me, then back at her computer. "Are you her brother?"

"No."

"Cousin?"

"No."

"I can't let you in, not during delivery at least."

"But I'm her boyfriend!"

"So?"

"I'm the father! Why can't I go see her, she's been asking for me!"

"I still can't let you in, hun. Just sit down and wait."

"How long am I going to have fucking wait? She needs me now!" I demand, not bothering to try to hide my anger.

"I don't know, I'll let you know when you can go see her, alright? Why don't you sit down and relax?"

I only nod before running my fingers through my hair, grumbling to myself. Of course something like this would happen to me. I don't see what the big problem is, I mean, I should be able to see Callie, right? I don't sit down, instead I just pace back and forth, ignoring the looks I get from the people around me.

"Stupid," I mutter, pulling at my hair. "Stupid, stupid, B. Just had to go to work today? Yeah, of course I did."

I don't know how long I'm walking back and forth in the crowed room, not even bothering to say sorry too the few people I run into before I look back at the girl, who is playing with her hair, fixing her makeup. "How much longer?" I growl, upset that I can't even go near the room. At the least that's what they can do, right? What's so bad about me going to see her now?

"I already told you kid, I don't know yet. Can't you just wait a few more minutes? Ju-"

"Why can't I go in there with her? I demand, and she just looks at me like I'm stupid.

"You came too late, besides It's the rules, if you're her boyfriend or not, kid. So please just sit down?"

"But she needs me now!"

The he lady just looks at me, and I know that there's nothing that so could say to make her let me see Callie.

I groan, and sit down, knowing that there's nothing else I could actually do. I stare at my feet for what seems like hours, and I can only picture Mariana yelling at me by the time I even get to see them.

I think about trying to bring up a point to at least let me see her, but I know there's no use in even trying. In the end, I'd probably end up getting kicked out. Cause everything that happens around me is my fault.

When I look at the time on my watch, if I actually read it right, I've been sitting here for almost three hours. When the lady at the desk peeks over her computer, looking at me. "You can go see her now, and your son if you want too."

I think about giving her a sarcastic response, but I just nod, not in the mood to say anything to her, or anybody who works here for that matter. She doesn't say anything, just watches me as I get up.

"She's in the last room on the left."

I murmur a thank you before burying my hands in my pockets, thinking about what the hell I would say when I got in that room. With no doubt, I'd be dead the moment I step an inch through the door.

When I do get to the door, I stand there for a few seconds before I even actually open it, preparing to be yelled at by Mariana.

"Hey, Brandon's here!" Mariana shouts, and I cringe. "I still can't believe they wouldn't let you in, I mean that's so stupid."

I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm surprised you didn't yell at me."

"I already yelled at the doctors, so I figured I'd save you the trouble."

"Good. Were's Percy?"

"With Callie where else would he be?"

I ignore her response and push past her, and see Callie in bed with Percy, and Jude standing next to the bed, looking at me.

"C-Can I hold him?" I stutter, not exactly sure why I'm nervous. Callie could be mad at me, right? For not being with her when she need me.

Callie just smiles and nods, hand Percy to me gently. I find myself staring at him, his eyes closed. He looks like Callie. I don't know how long I stand there, just staring at him. I look up at Stef and Lena, who are just looking at me like they're waiting for me to say something, and I look down at Percy when I feel his hand wrap around my finger.

"He's so small."

Everybody laughs, and I just ignore it, looking at Percy, who's now looking up at me, his green eyes wide open as he yawns. "He was just born, what did you expect? An animal?" Jesus asks.

Mariana, who is now standing next to me starts squealing. "See?! I told you he has Brandon's eyes! Look at them!"

"He looks like Callie," I whisper like an idiot, and Mariana looks at me. "Besides the eyes! He looks just like Callie!" I feel my eyes watering, and I feel bad. I'm a father. A real father. I've always been a real father for Ethan and Ellie, right? It just feels different while I hold Percy.

I look at Callie, and hand her Percy, pulling out my phone. "I gotta take a picture!" What I says only awards me with more laughter.

"Come on, guys," I hear Lena say. "We should leave Callie and Brandon alone."

I find myself staring at Callie, smiling to myself. She looked happy. Happier than I've seen her lately, and I understand why. I was about to say something, but then the door flies open, and nurse comes in.

"We need to put him in the nursery." She says, looking at me, and I look down at Callie, and she nods, hand Percy to me again.

"I'll be back." I tell Callie, following the nurse out of the room.

"We keep them in the hospital for three days here to make sure everything is okay," The nurse explains, and I nod. "Well, what we're able to when they're this young."

She opens a door for me, giving me a kind smile. "We have his bed ready, you can stay with him for a few minutes if you want."

I nod, and she leaves, so I put Percy in the area they gave him. "Um, I..." I feel like I have to say something to him, even though I know that he won't even remember it. "I'm glad you're here. I'm glad Callie wanted to keep you, Percy. I wouldn't know what I'd do if she didn't... We'll forget about that, okay? Mommy's happy that you're here too."

I don't know why I kept talking even though it was clear that he was sleeping. I run my fingers through my hair, and sigh before I leave.

* * *

Callie looks a lot more peaceful when she's asleep, and it makes me feel bad that she's never this carefree when she's awake. Because of the things that happened to her, and that's when it hits me, that she probably never had a childhood like I did, being able to learn how to ride a bike or color or anything, instead she had to learn how to take care of her younger brother.

Without thinking, I climb into the hospital bed next to her, wrapping my arm around her waist. I feel Callie move, and her head rests on my chest, and I run my fingers through her hair. And the only thing I can think about is how lucky I am.


	11. Chapter 11

My eardrum is broken, thanks to Mariana. If I had a choice, she would already be at home with Stef and Lena, not standing next to me, obsessing over my three day old son. I try to think of anything that'll get her to leave. So far, nothing has worked. It wasn't that bad Mariana was here, at least that's what I tell myself.

"Wait, Brandon why don't you pu-"

I lose the small amount of patience I had left for her, and I just snap at her. "God dammit, Mariana why don't you just make up your bipolar mind and dress him yourself?"

Callie and Mariana look at me in shock, and I don't say anything, I just walk out of the room, leaving them with Percy. I don't know why I said that, I mean, Mariana was only choosing between two outfits, and it's not like we kept taking them off. I run my fingers through my hair, and I hear the door open.

"You okay?" Callie asks, and I look at her. No, I'm not okay, and I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. I should be happy, right? I have a son. And Ethan and Ellie. What's so different now?

I look over at her, and my throat tightens. "No," I choke out, shaking my head. "I don't know what's wrong with me, Cals. I should be happy, right? We have Percy."

Callie looks at me, then at her feet. "What are you talking about?"

I run my fingers through my hair, and lean against the wall behind me. How the hell am I going to explain this to Callie? That I think I'm not ready to be a father when I already am? "I don't think I can do it, Callie," I mutter, wanting to hit myself for saying something so stupid. "Be a dad, I mean. Like a real dad. Something about just feels different, you know? I care about Ethan and Ellie, I really do, but I-"

Callie cuts me off, stepping closer to me. "I understand, B. I know what you mean, it feels different to me too. But I can't explain it. We'll go through this together though, remember? I promised you. I still care about Ethan and Ellie, and if you're worried that you aren't anymore, it's not going to happen."

"But Callie, i-"

"If it weren't for you I wouldn't even know that I cared about them, B. I know it's not going to change for any of us, nothing is going to change, I promise." Callie has to stand on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek, and she takes my hand.

"I have to say sorry to Mariana," I mutter, gripping her hand tightly. "I feel bad for saying that."

Callie nods, giving me a small smile. "That's a good idea. Then we can go home."

I'm surprised that when I get back into the room that Mariana seems unaffected by words, smiling when she sees me. "He's a daddy boy." She says, handing me Percy.

"I'm sorry," I tell her, and Mariana just looks at me like she didn't expect me to say anything about it. "For saying that. I know that you don't, it's just that I-"

"Just shut up, Brandon." Mariana tells me, but there's a smile on her face as she shrugs at me.

"It's nothing, really. Trust me."

My protective instincts kick in, and I just look at her. "No, it's not, Mariana. I shouldn't have even said something like that. Nobody deserve to hear that, okay? Do kids at school say stuff like that to you?"

"No, yes. I don't know!" Mariana says quickly, the smile falling from her face. "Not to me, at least."

I look at her questionably. "So you hear people say stuff about you, and you don't do a damn thing about it?"

Mariana looks away from me and I sigh. This is the type of stuff I should be here for, helping her. I mean, nobody deserves to be talked about behind their backs. Callie takes Percy from me and puts him in the car seat, but I'm still looking at Mariana, who won't meet my eyes.

"B, don't go making a big deal out of this." Callie says quietly.

I look over at her. "She's my sister," I say, trying to bring up a point. "I should be able to help her and protect her from this type of stuff, Cals!" I turn my attention back to Mariana, who's muttering something about dance team and some guy named Chase.

"It's okay, Brandon. She still has Jesus and moms if it gets too bad, okay?"

I think about saying something to Mariana, but I can feel Callie pull my arm gently, and I give up. We should get home anyways, it's getting late. "Fine," I mumble, picking up Percy's car seat carefully.

Callie takes my free hand and I know that she's eager to leave, and I can see why. You get tired of the blank walls after three days. I force a smile to the lady at the front desk, the same girl who wouldn't let me see Callie.

When we get to the car, I look over at Callie. "Ethan and Ellie are with moms, right?" I ask, buckling Percy's seat into the car.

Callie only nods, and I sigh, getting into the car next to her. "When we get home, you're going go bed."

Callie looks at me, shaking her head. "No, Brandon I-"

"Need to catch up on your sleep. It's already late enough, Cals." I say, and Callie gives up on saying anything, staring at the road in front of us, and I take her hand, comforting myself.

When we get to the apartment, Callie goes straight to bed, and I put Percy in his crib, since he fell asleep in the car. I see the baby monitor box, and set it up to past time. But Percy's still asleep.

I sigh, and make my room to our room, taking off my shirt before I climb into bed next to Callie, taking her hand, burying my face in her neck. She turns around burying her face in my chest gripping my hand tighter.

I close my eyes, allowing myself to relax, knowing that Callie and Percy are both safe. But the peace doesn't last that long.

The baby monitor startles me when the ear piercing scream comes through it. Callie jolts awake next to me. "I got this," I mutter, kissing the top of her head, and she nods silently. "Go back to bed."

I grab a bottle of the formula the doctors gave us before I walk into Percy's room, and I wince when he screams again. He calms down a little bit when I pick him up, and I smile proudly to myself. He takes the bottle, drinking it faster than I thought possible.

Still won't go to bed.

"Come, Percy," I mutter. "I fed you and changed your diaper, what else do you want? Please go to bed."

I think about all things I can do. I can put him back in his crib, even though he isn't asleep, he'll fall asleep soon enough. He suddenly starts crying. I sigh, and look at him. I could sing, right? It helped Callie fall asleep. I could help him, right?"

_I think we might be outlaws._

_I think we might be in love._

_'Cause I'm all out of reasons. Like seasons winter, summer, fall._

_They're all washed up and you're still way over there so slide in by my side._

_'Cause I'm just an outlaw, wanted if you want me._

Percy falls asleep, almost by surprise and I put him back in his crib.

"He likes that." Callie's voice surprises me, and I turn around to see her standing in the doorway.

"What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't go back to sleep. I heard you singing through the monitor." Callie tells me, shrugging, and I feel her hands on my back.

"It was the only thing I could think of, Cals."

I can tell Callie smiles when she rests her head on my shoulder. "As much as I love Percy, I would love to go back to our own room and try to get some sleep."

* * *

I know that this chapter is short. I promise that the next one is longer, and it should be up soon, I just need to finish editing it. Since this story is almost done, I'm going to upload another Brallie story, called Irresistible. Please check it out! -PercyFosterMellark


	12. Chapter 12

I'm super sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time.

One year later (I know it's a big gap. For plot reasons. Please deal with it.)

The knocking on the door has Ellie leaping out of bed. "Is that aunt Mariana?" She asks, not even waiting for my response as I follow her. Callie comes out of Percy's room, who finally gotten used to his schedule. Judging by the look on Callie's face, she doesn't know who's at the door. It could be Mariana, she's usually the one who comes here.

"Ellie, wait okay? I'll answer it. You wait here with mom." I say, grabbing her arm gently. We're still working on her to not open the door for strangers. I look through the peephole. I'm surprised to see Wyatt standing there. I look back at Callie who's watching me. "It's Wyatt."

Callie looks shocked. "W-what? Tell him that I'm not here!" She says, getting over her shock quickly. "Please. Say I'm at work or something."

I expected Callie to be happy to see Wyatt again after almost two years. This is far from what I expected. "But you just got back from work." I point out, and Callie sighs, running her fingers through her hair.

"Brandon!"

"Fine, fine. Go take a shower or something and I'll answer."

Callie disappears and I look at Ellie, then back at the door before I open it. Wyatt looks exactly the same from the last time I saw him. "Hello?" I ask, and Wyatt doesn't answer, but he's looking at Ellie.

"W-who's this?" He stutters, running his fingers through his hair awkwardly before looking at me.

"This is Ellie. Ellie, Wyatt. Wyatt, Ellie." I say, not sure of what else to do. Ellie just smiles before she goes back into her room.

"She's kinda shy." I say, opening up the door more so he can come in.

Wyatt lets out a nervous chuckle. "Is she yours?"

"Uh, no not really. Callie and I kinda adopted her and her older brother," I say, shrugging as I sit down on the couch. "I'm guessing that you're here to see Callie?"

"I-uh, no not really. Well, yes, but I was hoping to see you too. I guess. If that doesn't sound too weird to you."

"Well, she's in the shower, so say whatever you want. Say you hate me or something." I tell him, eyeing Ethan and Ellie's rooms, almost expecting them to come out.

Wyatt laughs, sitting in the chair across from me, shaking his head. "I don't hate you, Foster," He says, and I raise an eyebrow. "I came here to see Callie, and to thank you."

"What? Why? I never did anything for you." I say, not even trying to hide my shock. I never thought that Wyatt would ever say something like this to me. Much less thank me for something.

"I- uh, I just wanna thank you for being here for Callie," Wyatt tells me, relaxing as he says it. "I never understood her, and when I helped her run away, I mean, I have never seen her so lost. Until you came back for her. You understand her, man. You know her better than anybody else could ever know. And I wanna thank you for that because if you weren't here, I'd bet you she'd still be lost."

"Look, Wyatt, it doesn't matter how much you know about her. It matters about how much you show you care about her."

Wyatt nod, as if he's actually taking it as advice or something, then he smiles. "I know you are there, Callie."

I hear Callie cuss before she comes in, sitting down on the couch next to me. "You let him in?" She mutters, looking at me, and I can only bring myself to nod before I say something stupid to her.

"Long time, no see." Wyatt says, his smile bigger if possible.

Callie leans against my side, almost like she wants to be as far from Wyatt as she could be, and I automatically wrap my arm around her shoulders. I am still not over my shock of Callie not wanting to see Wyatt. She doesn't even seem happy.

"Yeah, it's been a while since we've seen each other." Callie says quickly, trying to avoid as much conversation with him as possible, and I sigh. Of course.

"You seem happy," Wyatt says, looking at me. "Brandon said that you adopted two kids?"

Callie nods, "We have three kids."

Wyatt looks confused, and does not say anything until it settles into his mind. "You... You were... pregnant?" His face shows shock then anger. Then something I can't recognize, and for a minute I expect him to start yelling at us or just get up and leave, but he doesn't move. Which only makes it feel more awkward than it should be.

"That's... that's great, I guess. How old is..."

"Percy is one. He just turned one a few days ago," Callie says, resting my head on my shoulder. "He just went to bed a few minutes ago."

I can't help but smile and pull Callie closer to me, even though I don't have to worry about Wyatt doing anything. It is obvious that he really doesn't want to try to mess up things.

"I figured," Wyatt says carefully, standing up. "Well, I should get going, I have to meet up with some of my friends. It was good to see you again, Callie. Brandon."

"Well," I say, looking down at Callie. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Whatever, B," Callie mutters into my chest, and I just smile at her response. "It was pretty bad. Did you see the look on his face?"

I sigh. "Judging by the look on your face, it seemed like you were the one at the door, Cals. Not him. I thought that you would've be happy to see him."

Callie shrugs, getting up. "I... I was happy to see him, I really was. It's just that I was afraid of what he would say while he was here."

I raise an eyebrow questionably. "Like what? Saying that he still cares about you? That's not a bad thing if you ask me, Callie." I tell her, and she sighs, shaking her head. It's only Wyatt. Sure she dated him before. But it's just Wyatt.

"I know, but... Nevermind. I'm going to bed." Callie says, leaving me alone on the couch. I still don't understand why she is not happy to see Wyatt. I mean, he's like her best friend, isn't he? Well he was at one point.

I manage to get to my feet and follow her to our room, not bothering to say anything to her at first. Callie doesn't me when I climb into bed next to her, and since I know she's not going to say anything by herself, I sigh.

"Callie, it's just Wyatt." I say softly.

"I know it's just Wyatt, Brandon. But the last time I saw him was when he helped me run away to Indiana, and he shows up without any warning."

I hadn't seen it like that, I actually even forgot about that, the way I like it. When I don't even have to worry about her leaving like that again. I don't answer, and I think about what I would say if I did answer her. Tell her that I could care less if she was with Wyatt? It's better than her being by herself when she did run away.

"I don't care about that. I care about you still being here."

* * *

Callie is not in bed next to me like I hoped she would. Ethan and Ellie tend to wake her up in the mornings instead of me. It made me feel bad, that Callie was basically raising three children on her own.

I groan, and swing my legs over the side of the bed and run my fingers through my hair. It's saturday. All three of them are going to be home all day. I'm already dreading walking out of the room to see what disaster has happened this time.

When I open the door, I can see Callie in the kitchen, and she looks like she's ready to snap, and she probably is. "Morning," I say carefully, not sure of how Callie would react. Pissed off, is what I expect. Somewhat calm, Maybe. Not 100% calm. "How long have you been awake?"

"Six thirty," She replies calmly, not bothering to look at me. "I got an offer."

"What type of offer?"

Callie shrugs, finally looking at me. "A go to a different country for a month and take pictures offer? My boss thinks it would be good if I do it, he thinks that more people would buy them if I take it."

"A _month_?"

Callie nods, a small smile on her lips. "I told him I would think about it, but I already decided not to go, B. I don't think I could be away from all them for a month. Especially Percy, he's still young."

"I think you should take it, Cals." I tell her, even though I don't want her too. A month without Callie. After a year of hardly not being able to spend actually time with each other, Callie ends up going away for a month.

"I don't wanna leave you with them," Callie says quietly. "I don't want to leave you again. I want to be with you."

"When do you have to leave if you do take the offer?"

"Three weeks from today." My heart drops. So much for finding quality time with her before she leaves.

"I still think you should take it, Cals. Everybody loves the pictures you take, it'll be good for you anyways. To get outta here for a few days."

"A few days? We're talking about a month, not a few days. A month seems like a little too much, B. I'm not saying that I don't want to do it, it's just that I-"

"You're overthinking it, Cals. You need a break from all of this. It's been complete chaos."

Callie sighs. "I still don't wanna be away for a month though. I'm going to see if I can go for a shorter amount of time. Two weeks or something."

I smile, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Good. Any idea of what we're going to do today with 'em?" I ask, wanting to do something besides stay inside with them all day.

Callie doesn't answer, just leans against me, wrapping her arms around my neck like she's afraid that I'm going to let her go. I don't plan on doing that for a long time.

Her phone that was resting on the counter starts to vibrate, and we both look at it. "It's Lena. Think we should answer it?"

Without waiting for her response, I take it off the counter and answer it, figuring that it would be something important. "Hello?"

I can tell that Lena is in a good mood, the way how she talks louder that she usually would. "Are you and Callie doing anything with the kids today?"

"Uh, we didn't really plan anything, but that could change."

"No, don't do that. Stef and I will watch them this weekend."

I look at Callie, an eyebrow raised. Callie seems just as surprised at Lena's offer as I am. "Did Mariana make you do this?"

"No, Stef and I actually want to see them, Brandon. And we figured that you and Callie could use a break, B. It's been what, a year since you two have gone on a date?"

Lena did have a point. It's time that I take Callie on a date again. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to have them off of our shoulders for a few hours.

"Uh, okay? You're sure that you wanna watch them?"

"Just drop them off, B. Then you and Callie and do whatever you want to."

Callie seemed fine with idea, so I just shrug it off. One night with them gone isn't going to kill us. "I'll being them over there, and you stay here, okay? Find something that you wanna do." I say quickly, kissing her on the cheek.

It takes longer than thought possibly to get all three of them in the car. Stef and Lena are already at the door when I get there, and Ellie leaps into Stef's arms. "How's the medicine been working for her?"

"Good, she focuses in school now. More than she did at least, and the reading is getting better."

"Go have fun already, will you?" Lena says, and I just look at her, pretending to be hurt.

"I thought you liked me, gosh. At least somebody at home likes me," I turn my attention to Ellie. "Be good for them, okay?"

When I get back the apartment, Callie is on the couch, on her phone. I sit down next to her, not exactly sure of what I'm going to say to her.

"Uh," Callie says, tossing her phone to the end of the couch, looking at me. "He said that he can make the trip two and half weeks instead of a month."

I nod, not really in the mood to talk about that right now. For the first time in forever we have the whole day to ourselves. I'd like to spend it doing things together, not talking about her leaving.

"Okay," I say, standing up. "Come on, I'm taking you out somewhere today."

Callie looks up at me. "Where to?"

"I'm not telling, you'll laugh at me. Come on, let's just go already."

* * *

"The Beach?" Callie asks as I take her hand, and I nod.

"Yeah. Why not? I mean it's just the beach. Besides, it was the only thing I could think of."

Callie doesn't answer, but she rests her head on my shoulder and I smile. I'm guessing the beach was a good choice. Nobody's here. I look out at the water. After a few moments of quiet, I stop walking. "We should go in."

"I don't have my suit."

"So?" I ask, already pull my shirt above my head. "Nobody else is here, you know."

"I'm good here."

I sigh, taking off my jeans. "Fine."

The water is warmer then I expected and there's not a wave in sight. I chose a good day to come here. I look back, only to see that Callie has sat down on the sand. And I desperately want her to come in here with me. "Please come in here!" I call, and she smiles, shaking her head.

"I like it over here better!"

I groan. "Please? It's not that bad!"

Callie is quiet for a few seconds before she stands up, shaking her head at me as she takes off her shirt dand shorts.

I smile. "See, I knew you would end up coming in."

"Whatever, Foster." Callie says, punching my arm playfully.

"I should have brought sunscreen, right?" I ask, it just coming into my mind, but I know both of us could careless. Today is just when we can actually relax with out worrying about something bad happening.

I wrap my arms around her waist, and pull her towards me. Callie doesn't say anything, but she wraps her around my neck. I don't know how long we stand there, but I don't mind. I couldn't stand it for another minute, just standing here. So I kiss her suddenly, moving my mouth against hers desperately.

Callie doesn't seem to matter, and kisses me back just as hard, and I pull her body closer to mine, wanting to nothing between us. Eventually, Callie pulls away, breathless. "I'm getting cold."

I forgot the we were still in the water, and I take her hand. "Okay. Lets go home, then."

* * *

"I'm taking a shower." Callie says, and I just nod, not wanting to move from my comfortable spot on the couch.

A few minutes later, I sigh and get up from the couch. I should change my clothes, they're dirty from the beach.

I throw them into the hamper in the corner of the room, and realize that the door to the bathroom is opened a bit. Then without thinking I walk in, closing the door behind me.

"Callie?"

Her head pokes around the curtain. "Yeah?"

"Mind if I join you?"

"B, I'm in the _shower_."

"I know. And I've seen you naked before, your point is?"

"I'm in the shower." Callie repeats.

"I know."

Callie bites her lip, almost as if she's actually thinking about it. But she's not. I loose my self control and kiss her roughly, stepping into the shower with her. My actions surprise her, but she smiles against my lips, wrapping her arms around my neck. She lets out a small gasp, and I look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, the wall's cold."

I smile, and kiss her again, running my tongue across her bottom lip. She opens up eagerly, her fingers tugging at my hair. I pull away from her, kissing her neck, sucking gently.

"Brandon." I hear Callie murmur as her hands rest on my chest.

"I wanna take you out to dinner tonight." I say out of the blue, kissing neck again, pressing my body against hers, causing her to moan.

"Not now," Callie whispers, her fingers in my hair again as she kisses me. "We'll go later. Please."

I kiss her neck again, my hand sliding down in between her thighs, a soft moan coming from her. "Now?" I ask, my fingers brushing against heated, damp skin.

"Brandon, I swear to god if-"

I cut her off, kissing her gently, not really wanting to hear her talk right now. I move a finger into her and her nails dig into my shoulders painfully, but I ignore it, moving another finger into her, her breathing hitching.

"Brandon...Fuck."

"Feel better now?" I ask teasingly, Callie just looks at me.

"I'm going to kill you, Foster."

I wrap my arm around Callie's waist, pulling her closer to me. "Any plans for tonight?" I whisper into her ear.

Callie elbows me. "Not anymore," She tells me playfully, pressing herself against me. "Because you can't keep your hands to yourself."

"Hey! You wanted me t-"

"Because you just had to come into the shower with me."

I give up, knowing that she was right, and so take her hand. "Let's get dinner over with, can we?" I ask, and Callie looks up at me, but I can't meet her eyes. I swallow, trying to get the thought out of my mind.

"Are you okay?"

I can only nod, not wanting to say anything.

Then Callie smiles, shaking her head, trying to hide her laughter. "Are... Are you thinking about me?" She asks, biting her lip.

Dammit. She's doing the lip thing. "Callie!" I whine. "You're only making it worse!"

Callie raises her eyebrow, biting her lip again. "It was your idea to go out to dinner. Not mine, remember?"

"You're lucky that we're already here or I swear that I w-"

"Sir, your table is ready."

I look at the guy, surprised that he called me sir. He looks like he could be older than me. I grab Callie's hand and follow him.

"Why are you so sweet?" Callie questions as I pull out her chair for her.

I shrug. "I love you." I tell her, like it's my excuse. And it probably is. I sit down across from her, and the guy looks at us.

"What would you like to drink?"

"Water for both of us," I answer, and he disappears. "I don't like him." I tell Callie.

"Why?" Callie asks, but I can tell that she knows exactly what I'm going to say.

"He was checking you out."

Callie laughs, shaking her head. "If anything, he was checking you out."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever."

She raises her eyebrow, silently telling that she's right, and I just shake my head. "No." I say as he comes back, and I just look at him, not sure what I expected.

He puts the water on the table and looks at me. "Do you two know what you would like, sir?"

"Uh, the chef special is good." I say, remembering the sign they put up.

He disappears again, and I look over at Callie. "See? He didn't even look at me. And he called you sir."

"Well dinner wasn't so bad."

"That's what you think, Cals." I grumble, running my fingers through my hair as I close the door to our apartment, and she laughs.

"I told you that he was into you."

"Oh, shut up. That wasn't even the worst part! I'm pretty sure he thought I was turned on by him, thanks to you."

Callie laughs, and I just look at her. "Yeah, sorry about that."

She starts to walk away, but I grab her wrist, pulling her to me. Kissing her roughly, not able to control myself anymore. She teased me all night, and she knows that she did. I wrap my arms around her waist, only for my hands to go to her thighs, lifting her up to the counter. Callie wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me closer if possible.

Callie pulls away, both of us breathing heavily. "I guess it got the better of you, huh?"

"I guess," I answer, kissing her again, lifting her up, walking to our room. "Like you don't wanna do this." I say, kicking the door closed behind us. She smiles against my lips, unwrapping her legs from my waist.

Callie's hand leave my hair, trailing down to my chest, and she starts to unbutton it, pulling at it roughly. "Somebody's eager." I say when the last three fly off.

"Oh, shut up." Callie murmurs, kissing me again, pushing it off of my shoulders.

I tug at the hem of her shirt, pulling it above her head. "Now we're even." I murmur, kissing her neck, a small whimper coming from her lips.

Then her hands are on my chest, pushing me onto the bed, pressing herself against me, causing a moan to escape me. "I bet those jeans are really constricting."

I rest my hands on her hips, not wanting her to move. "You have no fucking idea, Callie."

Her hands rest on my chest again, tracing shapes with her fingers as she slides her hand down to my torso, resting there.

"Fuck, Callie, stop teasing m-"

She cuts me off, kissing me as one of her hands wrap around my arm. "I'm teasing you?" She asks innocently, pressing herself against me harder.

It takes all of my self control to not roll over and pin her to the bed. "You know exactly what you're doing."

"You know, I thought you had self control."

"I do... Do you know what I want to do to you right now?"

Callie just kisses me again, her hands going to my chest again. When she pulls away from me, can't help but feel disappointed. Until I feel her lips against my neck. Callie has never done this before, and to be honest, I like it. "Callie... Fuck."

I turn us over, my lips barely brushing against hers. "As much as I like girls on top, I prefer them underneath."

"I can tell."

I bury my face in her neck, sucking her sweet spot as she pulls at my hair, a moan escaping her lips. My hands slide down her, unbuttoning her shorts, pulling them off of her hips, and throw them somewhere behind me.

Callie hands run down my back, pushing me against her, and I can't help but moan. "We're not even." Callie murmurs, pulling on the waistband of my jeans.

I unbuckle the belt, and she pushes them off, and I kiss her again, biting her lower lip, holding her wrists down, grinding my his against her. "Brandon you're teasing me."

"I know." I murmur, kissing her neck again gently.

"Let me do something." She pleads.

I let go of her wrists, supporting my weight on my elbows, looking at her. "You're so beautiful. You know how lucky I am?" I ask her, resting my forehead against hers.

"I know how lucky I am," She whispers, her nose brushing against mine. "I don't deserve you."

"Don't say that. 'Cause I love you and you deserve everything you want."

Callie smiles lightly, and I kiss her forehead. "Please believe me."

"I do," Callie tells me, arching her back, our bodies pressing against each other. "I always do believe you."

My hands slide up to her bra clasp and undo it, and I slide the straps off of her shoulders. I stop suddenly, "Is this okay?"

Callie looks at me like I'm insane. "It's just that it's been a long time and I-"

"It's perfectly fine." Callie tells me, kissing me gently as I finish taking off her bra, and it follows my jeans to the floor.

"I love you," I murmur against her lips, not able to hold it back anymore. "So much, Callie."

"I love you, too." Callie says.

"I don't like it when you say it like that. It makes me feel like you're only agreeing with me to make me happy or something." I tell her, trailing down to her neck again.

Her hands are on my face, and she forces me to look at her. "Brandon, I love you. I really do."

I nod, and she gives me a small smile. "Are we just gonna lay here, or..."

Callie trails off as I rest my hand on her thighs. "You just reminded me."

I slide into her, and her nails dig into my shoulders to the point where I'm sure she drew blood. "Brandon...Fuck." A moan comes from her lips, and I kiss her, and her fingers find my hair, tugging at it as I thrust into her again. "Callie, I- Fuck." I wasn't going to last much longer.

"Brandon, I- holy fuck," Callie says as I trust into her one more time, falling onto the bed next to her, automatically wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her towards me. We're quiet for a few minutes, and I bury my face into her hair.

"Are you okay?" I ask quietly, suddenly concerned. "Did I-"

"You didn't do anything," Callie says quietly, taking my hand. "I was just thinking about them."

"The kids?"

Callie nods as I start to rub circles on her bare back. "It sounds really stupid, but I... I was just thinking about what we'd do if one of them got hurt like I did. What I'd do."

I look down at her, kissing her forehead lightly. "That would never happen. I won't let anything happen to them. Or to you."

Callie nods, burying her face in my chest, and I know she wants me to believe her, but she's still afraid of the thoughts in her head.

"Callie, I promise. And if I can't keep that promise I'm still gonna help you." I kiss the top if her head to comfort myself, telling myself that I'll be able to help them with anything. Or protect them. I try so hard to push the thoughts out of my head, and tell myself to focus on Callie, to be with her. Bur it doesn't work.

I already broke my promise. Because there's always going to be that one thing that I won't be able to help any of them with or protect them from.


	13. Chapter 13

I bury my face in Callie's hair, taking in her sent of lemons, probably "from the shampoo she uses, telling myself that it will be okay. For now, we at least. What Callie said before has me thinking, and I hate it. I run my fingers through her hair, kiss her forehead. Anything to get the thoughts of any of them getting hurt. The apartment is so quiet, that I wish that the kids were here, just to give me a reason to be more aware. I close my eyes, and I feel Callie's hands on my chest, rubbing patterns.

"Do you ever wonder if things would different? If I never stayed with you?" Callie asks quietly.

"No," I tell her in honesty. "It wouldn't matter- we would've ran into each other eventually, and I'd still fall for you." It was the truth, I'd end up falling for her one way or another. Maybe without the chance of ruining her chance of getting adopted. It'd be safer. I wonder if we would have caused just as much trouble.

"My mom would've liked you."

How her voice grows much quieter than it was seconds before, and the tone of her voice, it pains her to tell me this. It could be because she didn't tell the truth, or it's so true that she doesn't want to think about it.

Either way, it makes me smile, and I miss her forehead again, running my fingers through her hair. "I'm glad to hear that," I tell Callie softly, not wanting to say anything that could make it worse. "I like your mom too."

Callie looks up at me, raising her eyebrow questionably. "You don't know anything about my mom."

"I know I don't. Tell me about her- if that's okay with you. You don't have to if you don't want to."

"I want too," Callie murmurs, pushing the hair out of my eyes. "I like to tell myself that she was like you, Brandon."

"Like me?"

Callie nods, a small smile on her lips. "Yeah, she was. She was sweet and caring. Gentle too," Callie takes my hand in hers, almost if it's another thing I have in common with her mom. "Jude and I were never afraid of her. I always felt safe around her, no matter what was happening. Like I how I feel with you," Callie pauses, tears piling up in her eyes. "She made you believe everything she said. She was also stubborn, too. You already know that she was into music, that's how I learned some of the guitar."

"Now I know why you're so stubborn now, Cals. Is that it?"

Callie shakes her head. "No, not really. You guys have more in common. The things you say. They're so similar. They way you think. Sometimes when you talk I think you planed it all out in your head."

"It just comes, Cal. I just say what's on my mind in the nicest way possible," I tell her, wanting to know more about her mother. "There has to be more to her than that."

"No, not really." Callie tells me, and I look at her.

"Really? She hasn't told you anything that you realize it true or something?"

Callie just looks at me, thinking it over. "My mother told me a lot of things, Brandon. To be honest, I'm not even sure any of it's true anymore."

"One thing," I beg, not exactly sure why I am. "There's has to be one thing that she told you that's true."

"B, I-" Callie stops herself, sighing. "She told me once that it doesn't matter what other people think about the person you fall for. She also told that there's two types of love, you know? She told me that there's the love that's safe and what is right."

"What's right isn't always easy, though."

"I feel like she knew that I was going to meet you, Brandon. It was just the things she told me, they all remind me of you in some sort of way."

"So I'm the love that's right or something?"

Callie laughs lightly, kissing me gently. "Yeah, and I was wrong. My mom would love you."

"I'm guessing that's a good thing?" I ask, and Callie nods quietly as I kiss her jawline, pulling her closer to me. "I still think I like your mom, too. She sounds nice."

"She was a good person." Callie mumbles as I notice the tears falling falling down her cheeks. I should have know to not to talk about her mom.

"Hey," I whisper, kissing her cheek, only to taste the saltiness of her tears. "Don't cry. Please," I beg her as I kiss her other cheek, and she doesn't answer me. So I do the only thing I can think of. I kiss her forehead, her cheeks, her neck, her bare shoulder, silently asking her to not be upset. But I can't ask her to do that. I kiss her jaw before I kiss her lips, wiping away the last bit of her tears away with my thumbs. "Please don't cry, I don't like seeing you cry."

I start to pull away from her, but she finally seems to respond to everything I just did, kissing me back as she wraps her arms around my neck, her fingers tangling into my hair. She pulls me on top of her, her lips still salty from her tears.

I want to say something, tell her that we should rest or something, spend the rest of the night actually sleeping, but a voice in the back of my head stops me as Callie bites my lower lip.

Then her phone goes off, and we both look in the direction where it comes from. "What time is it?" Callie asks, and I shrug.

"Probably midnight," I tell her, still looking at the phone. "Should I answer it? If it's midnight, they probably have a reason to be calling."

"What if it's not Stef or Lena though?"

I don't answer her, instead I kiss her neck, pulling her body to mine.

* * *

Callie wakes up happier than I thought she would. I expected her to wake up with the conversation about her mom still lingering in the back of her mind. Which would eventually ruin her mood. I know that the conversation is still in my head.

"I made pancakes," I tell Callie, which only causes her to smile. I smile myself when I see that she's wearing my shirt. "And bacon if you like it again."

"Thank you." Callie says quietly as I put a plate in front of her, sitting across from her.

"Sleep good?" I ask her, wanting some reason to talk to her. If anything does end up to be bothering her, she'll tell me eventually.

"Best in a while. Wouldn't keep my hopes up for more nights like that though. Not when the kids come back."

I smile, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, we're going have get them back today. When Ethan and Ellie have school tomorrow." And work. I mentally add, knowing that Justin would expect me to work at least four days this weeks.

"Uh, so Brandon, I talked to my boss about the offer, and he says that a month is the shortest time that he can give me. I know that I told you two weeks, but you know how he is."

"I still think you should take it. I mean it's a month, what is a month going to do to us?"

"I started having panic attacks after being separated from you for a month." Callie says quietly, and I sigh.

"That was different," I tell her, running my fingers through my hair. "It's not like we're breaking up or anything."

"I still don't want to go, a month is way too long. What are you going to do with the kids?"

"Take them to school. Do what I always do. Take care of them. What we've been doing for the past year. There's nothing else to do, really." I tell her, starting to hate the idea of her going away for a month. She's right. It is a little too long.

Callie doesn't even answer, just shrugs like that's what she expect me to say.

"Do you even know where you're going?"

"Australia." She tells me quietly, and I smile.

"I heard that it's really nice there. And you think a month is too long? Seems like a month would be too short."

Callie just rolls her eyes, sighing. "Okay, sure. If you think that I should take it that much I-"

"You should take it. You need to take it. It'll be good for us. Plus, I think you'll enjoy it. You said you'll be leaving in two weeks, right?" I ask, looking at her.

Callie nods, shrugging. "Yeah. If I take the offer." She stands up, putting her plate in the sink, and I groan. A month would give me time. Time to do something that would make her happy.

"Cals, I-"

I'm surprised when her lips find mine suddenly, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her lips move against mine gently, and I grip her hips, pulling her body to mine. The fabric of her, well my shirt against my bare chest making me want more. So much more.

I press her back against the wall, pinning her hands above her head as she kisses me harder, and I run my tongue against her lower lip, asking for entrance. She opens up, meeting me eagerly. I let go of her hands, pulling her shirt above her head.

Callie kisses me again, pulling me into our bed room, pressing her body against mine, and I moan. I kiss her neck, sucking gently even though there's already plenty noticeable lovebites. She moans again, and I trail down to her stomach as she pulls at my hair.

"Brandon." I look up at her, and she pulls at my hair again, kissing me before going to my neck, and I can't help but moan as I feel her breath agaisnt my skin.

"Try to make this one easy to hide," I say breathily, and I can feel her smile against my neck. "I don't have makeup like you do."

"No promises."

My fingers trail slowly down her sides, to her thighs and between her legs, causing her to moan softly. "You're a tease." Callie says, her hands running down my chest. I slide two fingers into her, making her arch her back as I thrust hard into her, causing her to moan.

"Brandon." Callie moans, her nails digging into my back.

I pump my fingers into her faster, her body pressing against mine. "Fuck, Brandon I..." Callie's hands grip my hair, and I know she's close. I lean down to kiss her gently, her lips move against mine eagerly, and I pull my fingers out of her, and I know she's disappointed. "Br-"

"Shh," I mumble, kissing her as her fingers pull at my hair, kissing me roughly, biting my bottom lip. I slide into her, a breathy moan escaping her lips.

"Brandon..." Hearing my name causes me to thrust harder into her, deeper. "Fuck."

"Callie..." I say breathless, already knowing what I'm going to ask is completely stupid and random. "What time did we say we were going to pick them up?"

"It doesn't matter," Callie says, her lips barely brushing against mine. "We're already late."

* * *

"Uh, hey. Where are moms?" I ask Mariana, running my fingers through my hair awkwardly, and she just shrugs.

"They tried calling you. Mom is at the station and doing papers at the school."

"Oh," I say quietly, giving her a small smile. "Where are Ethan and Ellie?" I ask, taking Percy out of her arms, and he just giggles.

"Out back. Where's Callie?"

"Talking to her boss," I tell Mariana as I walk past her, happy to see the kids. "About going to Australia or something."

"Can I go?"

"Uh, I highly doubt that you can go. Unless you're good at taking pictures. Besides, Callie might not even go."

Mariana just looks disappointed, like even she thinks that Callie should go, and I sigh. "She doesn't want to be gone for such a long time."

"How long is it?" Mariana asks as Ethan and Ellie notice me, filling the quiet house with noise.

"A month," I shrug, acting like it's not that bad. But looking back on it, Callie's right. A month is a long time. "Maybe a little more."

"Don't you think that's too long? With all of them and everything?"

"No," I say, shaking my head as I mess up Ethan's hair. "It's actually good, Mariana. Well at least if I do what I plan to do."

Mariana laughs. "Like What? Buy a house?"

When she sees that I'm being serious, the smile slides off of her face. "You're serious? Without her knowing at all?"

"Hopefully she'll be happy. We've always wanted to move out of the apartment. It... ugh, we actually hate it."

Mariana seems to actually think about it, then nods. "I'll help you, then. It has to be a good house, and I have a feeling you'll just buy the first one you see."

"Well, thanks for watching them," I say, changing the topic. "I'll call you later."


End file.
